Art of Deception
by Taijitu-no-Yang
Summary: It's been a week since "that night." Team 7 has their first mission since Itachi's appearance. But with them on shaky ground from Sasuke's thoughts of treachery, can they pull through on a B-rank mission? CURRENTLY IN HIATUS
1. Chapter 1 The Mission

Disclaimer: I don't own _NARUTO _or any of the characters, just the OCs and this story.

This revamped chapter has been brought to you by Taijitu-no-Yang (author), Taijitu-no-Yin (beta, no account), and Godwolf Fenrir (gamma).

- - -

Uzumaki Naruto lay in his bed, snoring loudly. Wearing his normal dog sleeping cap and white pajamas, his pillow on the floor, and he had his left arm and leg hanging off the side of his bed. All was good for the sleeping twelve-year-old (although he turned 13 in only a few weeks) Genin, until-

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

"Naruto!" came Haruno Sakura's voice.

Naruto moaned, but made his classic hand seal, and a pajama-wearing Shadow Clone trudged up to the door. The clone unlocked the door and opened it, and was puffed away into white smoke as Sakura strode into the room, her brow furrowed in annoyance.

"Naruto! Why are you still sleeping? It's our first mission since Sasuke-kun got out of the hospital! Jeez, _Kakashi-sensei _is going to get there before we do! Get up!"

"Right away, Sakura-chan," Naruto mumbled. "_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!"

Five clones appeared and set about his apartment. They grabbed his blue ninja sandals, his pants, shirt, and jacket, one pulling the real Naruto out of bed, and the fifth went to go get a cup of instant-ramen.

Naruto pulled off his sleeping cap and wandered into the bathroom to change. He grabbed his necklace from his night stand before entering the bathroom. He quickly got dressed, smiling fondly at the necklace before tucking it under his jacket.

He tugged on his sandals and exited the bathroom, and the clone brought him the ramen. Naruto ripped the lid off, a clone tossed him chopsticks, and he dug in. The clones quickly cleaned up the apartment a bit and locked the door.

Naruto swallowed. "Want any, Sakura-chan? It's good!"

Sakura stared at Naruto slurp up several noodles before shaking her head.

"No thanks," she said, sounding slightly disgusted. She generally liked watching Naruto eat, he just seemed so happy -- which seemed to brighten the moods of those around him. But when he rushed, it just seemed... gross.

Naruto shrugged. "Suit yourself." And he drained the broth from the cup. Naruto grabbed his forehead protector and secured it to his forehead. "Let's get going, Sakura-chan!"

He opened the window next to his bed and jumped out. Sakura gingerly clambered after him, and the remaining clone on the inside shut and locked it.

They hurried to their destination to find Uchiha Sasuke leaning against a pole. As always, he had his 'bad-ass' expression on.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said cheerfully.

Sasuke nodded at her, "Morning."

"Wow, you actually said something today," Naruto said, landing on the roof behind Sakura. "You in a good mood, or did you forget to shove that rod up your ass this morning?"

Sasuke just eyed Naruto in an annoyed fashion.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled angrily, hitting him in the back of the head.

"Ha-ha!" Naruto laughed despite the monstrous lump on his cranium. "Totally worth it."

Sakura bashed him in the head again. "Still worth it?" she asked evilly.

"Let's go," Sasuke said, jerking his head.

"Right!" Sakura said brightly, hurrying away from the mass that was a bleeding, bruised Naruto.

- - -

Kakashi, after making his students wait an hour, finally showed up. The three Genin looked over at him, none of them bothering to yell at him for his lateness. What would be the point?

"Alright," Kakashi said brightly once the smoke cleared, pulling a scroll from one of his breast-pockets -- there was also an envelope secured to the scroll with a rubber band. "You three are to head into Water Country, into a snowy mountain range to act as escorts for the clients. You then bring them back here."

Naruto scrunched up his face and then asked, "Kakashi-sensei... What do they look like?"

"There's the info in the scroll," Kakashi said dismissively. Sakura noticed he seemed a little rushed. He hadn't been reading his book when he showed up, so it was possible he actually had a viable explanation for being late instead of something stupid like 'helping a cat out of a tree,' or simply 'getting lost on the path of life.'

"I don't get it, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said. "Why send us? I don't mean to brag, but we're a strong squad. Couldn't they send some new Genin?"

"Oh, right. I forgot to mention," Kakashi said in his usual way. "It's a B rank. Apparently someone is after them, and they want the Village's protection."

"They're willingly sending Genin on a B?" Sasuke asked, simply cocking an eyebrow.

"We're a little short-handed," Kakashi explained. Sakura nodded -- that explained Kakashi's haste. "The Chuunin or Jounin that would have normally been sent are already out on missions. I'm not even able to go with you, I have another mission." Kakashi tossed the scroll and envelope to Sasuke. "See ya," Kakashi said, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Should we prepare a little more before we leave?" Sakura asked as they headed for the village streets. "I mean, we're not prepared for a snowy region."

"You have a good point," Sasuke nodded. "Unfortunately, I don't have any clothes that would be suitable, and there isn't a shop that sells winter clothes in Konoha in early fall."

"I don't have snow clothes, either," Naruto said. "So, uh... where do we get the clothes?"

They both shrugged. "Maybe on the way in a town we pass through? I bet there's a map in that envelope," Sakura said brightly.

She snatched the scroll away from Sasuke, removing and discarding the rubber band. She opened up the envelope and peeked inside. As she had predicted, there was a map included. Sakura tossed the actual mission assignment back to Sasuke, who caught it effortlessly, and Sakura took the map from the envelope. She studied it for a few moments before she nodded, pleased with herself.

"So, hey, what's their names?" Naruto asked as they all sat down at a bench near a river. "What's their descriptions?"

Sakura set aside the map and pulled the pictures from the envelope. There were four photos of each of them, two side-shots, a front-shot, and a back-shot -- the names in letters, age, birthday, and height were along the white edges of the photos.

Sasuke grabbed the pictures of the male first.

'Yoshimitsu Riddin' was a lightly-tanned 16-year-old male born on June 9th, standing at around 168cm. His eyes were a dark brown and were lidded, and Naruto was reminded vaguely of Shikamaru -- staring in a bored way. His hair was the same dark-brown as his eyes, and had five evenly-spaced horizontally curved spikes in the front, the hair on the back of his head was somewhat spiky, pointing downward. He had a thick white jacket and winter pants on in the photos, but they looked a little old and tattered.

The ninja tried to analyze the picture a little, to see simply 'the underneath.' Riddin's eyes (despite Naruto's original observation) were alight with laughter, the right side of his mouth tugged into a wolfish grin, his canines touching tip-to-tip. He was probably a happy guy, playful. His cheekbones were pretty evident, the skin pulled almost taut over his face. Which meant he was skinny, but so much so that it seemed like he didn't eat regularly.

"What's with his nose?" Naruto asked, squinting at the picture. The underside of Riddin's nose was a dark black for some reason. "You figure it's face paint or something?"

"I dunno," Sakura shrugged. "But look at his name: 'Riddin'... It's foreign, I guess. I wonder how he writes it in kana?" (Note: Sakura pronounced it as 'Reed-in.')

'Yoshimitsu Rayn' was a lightly-tanned 13-year-old female born on October 18th, standing at around 155cm. (About 5'1") Her brown hair (a little lighter than her brother's) was flat and shiny, falling to the middle of her back. She bore a thick black jacket and winter pants in the pictures, and they looked new. Her eyes resembled Sakura's, and were a light gray.

Rayn's eyes were a bit softer than her brother's, but contained the same amount of humor and mirth. She was sticking her tongue out in the face-shot, her lips curved in a smile. She looked a bit more well fed than her brother, too. Sakura looked between the two pictures, noticing Rayn seemed to be in overall better condition than Riddin. Or at least it seemed that way from their physical appearance, and their clothes.

"'Rayn'... Another foreign name," Sasuke observed. "Are we sure they're related? Different eye color, different hair tone..." (Sasuke pronounced it as 'Rah-yin,' almost like the name 'Ryan.')

Sasuke opened up the scroll, hoping the clients had sent some useful information other than 'here we are, come get us.'

"My sister and I are more or less stranded in the middle of nowhere on an island north of Water Country," Sasuke read aloud. "There is a group of people that are after us, but I don't know who they really are. There are these three other guys, but I think we lost them a few weeks ago. Also, Mist Shinobi seem to be after us -- hence why it's a B-rank."

Naruto nodded as if he had been paying attention, then asked, "Where can we find some winter stuff?" It was not lost on Sasuke nor Sakura that Naruto hadn't been paying any attention -- they had already agreed to figure it out later.

"There's a trading post between here and the island they indicated," Sakura said, pointing at the island in question. "We'll just get stuff there."

"Sounds good," Sasuke nodded. "Any complaints, Naruto?"

"Nah, that sounds good," Naruto grinned. "How about we all head home for extra money, and meet at the main gate in fifteen minutes?"

"Right, I don't have enough ryou for food and clothing," Sasuke said, disappearing.

Sakura gave Naruto a brief wave before hurrying off as well.


	2. Chapter 2 Maturing

Disclaimer: I don't own _NARUTO _or any of the characters, just the OCs and this story.

This revamped chapter has been brought to you by Taijitu-no-Yang (author), Taijitu-no-Yin (beta, no account), and Godwolf Fenrir (gamma).

- - -

After a day-and-a-half of walking east, Team Seven found themselves in a town on the coast of Fire Country. The cries of seagulls faintly reached them, the smell of salt almost overwhelming.

There was a relatively small island a few kilometers off the coast, barren of civilization -- just a jungle. It was used as hunting grounds during the summer, but hunting season ended a month ago.

Northeast of this island was a slightly larger island, this one was a midpoint between Water, Fire, and Lightning Countries -- a mix of the three cultures, as well as a trading post. This was their first destination -- they'd see if they could buy snow clothes there.

"I can't wait to get out on the water!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping his arms as they headed for the docks. "What kinda boat are we gonna go on?"

"Just a small ferry," Sasuke replied, having asked for advice from a villager. "They should still be selling tickets, and it leaves in a few minutes, so we don't have time to looked around."

"Lame," Naruto mumbled, kicking at a rock.

"What were you expecting?" Sakura asked with a smirk. "Some big cruise ship?"

"Woulda been nice," Naruto nodded.

They reached the docks, the wooden planks creaking under their. The large, white ferry was visible the moment they reached the docks. A few people were already on, several sailors wandering the deck.

"All aboard!" came a deep voice from the sailor.

"Damn!" Sasuke growled, sprinting down the docks.

One of the sailors was on the docks, next to the ramp that led up to ferry. However, he hurried up the ramp and onto the boat, and kicked at the ramp, so it disconnected from the ferry.

"No, no!" Sakura yelled, hurrying.

The ferry was fast, surprisingly so considering how old it looked. The ferry was already off the docks, churning the water behind it.

"Good thing we're ninja, huh?!" Naruto yelled as he ran.

The three of them gathered Chakra into their legs, and the rotten planks literally crumbled beneath them. Sakura's foot sank into the dock, and she fell down to her knee.

"Damn!" Sakura exclaimed, trying to push at the planks to pull out her leg, only to have more wood break away, getting her hands stuck

"Guess we'll just have to wait for the next one," Sasuke said, slowing to a stop and watching the ferry slowly disappear into the distance. He jogged back and helped Sakura pry herself from the wrecked dock, and glanced at Naruto to see the blonde was running off the dock.

"What are you doing?" Sakura called after him.

"Why wait?" Naruto called back, laughing. He made a single Shadow Clone, and then sprinted for the two of them.

"What's he doing?" Sakura asked, brushing off her legs.

"Oh, damn," Sasuke sighed. "That idiot..."

"What?" Sakura asked, oblivious.

The dock shattered as Naruto and his Shadow Clone suddenly picked up speed, heading straight for Sasuke and Sakura. The planks kept breaking, but they were moving too fast to fall.

"He's not gonna-..." Sakura said desperately, looking at Sasuke.

"Yeah, he is," Sasuke sighed, nodding with his eyes closed.

Sakura sweat-dropped, squeezed her eyes shut, and braced herself.

Naruto and his Shadow Clone grabbed Sasuke and Sakura, and launched themselves for the ferry in an explosion of yellow Chakra.

"Naruto, you idiot!" Sakura screamed. "The water's freezing! Besides, it doesn't matter how close you'll get, we can't swim fast enough to catch up!"

"We don't gotta swim!" Naruto laughed, enjoying the salty air whipping at his face.

The jump was massive, they nearly caught up with the ferry despite the fact it was moving so quickly. Naruto and his Shadow Clone's feet hit the water, the water rippling and a circlet of a splash surrounding them.

"Hee-hee," Naruto grinned. "I can walk on water!"

"Wow..." Sakura said simply.

Sasuke immediately activated his Sharingan, so he might be able to use this later.

They took off after the ferry, quickly catching up. They jumped up, landing on the upper deck. Naruto gently set Sakura down, and the Shadow Clone simply dispersed, dropping Sasuke on his butt.

"Oops," Naruto said sarcastically, grinning at the Uchiha. Sakura didn't even seem to mind.

"_Oi_!" came the raspy voice of a sailor. He hurried up -- he looked more like a pirate than a sailor, dressed in dirt-colored rags. "What the hell are you three doin'?!"

"We have money!" Sakura exclaimed, flipping her hip pouch open. "We were just... a little late."

"Hn..." The sailor took the ryou from her and counted it. He stared at the money, and then at the three of them for a while. "Alright, whatever."

"Whew," Sakura sighed, wiping some sweat from her forehead. "I have to admit, that was pretty good, Naruto."

"Heh-heh, thanks, Sakura-chan," Naruto grinned, blushing slightly as he rubbed the back of his head. "So... how long till we reach that trade-post-island place?"

"..." Both Sakura and Sasuke shrugged.

"So... do we just relax till we get there?" Naruto asked, cocking his head. "There's gotta be something to do on this ship..."

Sasuke just wandered off, not saying a word. Sakura watched him go, wondering if he had seen something or just felt like looking around. Naruto walked over to the rail, grasped the upper rail and leaned forward, taking a long whiff at the salted air.

"_Ne_, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, looking over his shoulder. She looked over at him, taking her attention off Sasuke. "Sasuke seems... cheerful, if you could call it that, doesn't he?"

"..." _Naruto's more observant than I give him credit for,_ Sakura thought.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah... I thought he'd be annoyed when I fell into the dock, or when you just dropped him. But he didn't, and it honestly surprised me."

"I like this new Sasuke," Naruto said brightly, jumping up and sitting on the railing, his legs dangling. "But, really, I'm just glad he's settled down after that whole fight in the hospital."

Naruto's feet hooked onto the lower railing, enabling him to sit without having to balance himself with his hands. He looked over at Sakura.

"Watta you think of him?" Naruto asked, rocking back and forth slightly.

"He's still the same Sasuke," Sakura shrugged. "He's just more patient, I suppose."

"Yeah, I guess," Naruto said, staring out at the crashing waves.

Sakura walked closer to him, resting her elbows on the upper railing, leaning forward with her left foot rested on her right ankle. She looked up at him out of the corner of her eye, and smiled.

"You've matured, huh?" Sakura asked, almost fondly.

"Huh?" Naruto shrugged. "I guess, maybe. Iruka-sensei keeps saying that, too." Naruto laughed loudly. "I keep replying you all have just grown more patient, though! Ha-ha!"

"No, you really have matured," Sakura assured, smiling. "A lot stronger, too. You've come a long way from being the _dobe_ in the Academy."

Naruto's eye twitched somewhat when he heard _dobe_, but he still grinned at her, blushing. He looked out at the ocean some more before glancing at her.

"So, like... we're friends now, right?" Naruto asked awkwardly.

"Yeah," she said softly, staring out at the ocean now. "We're friends. Good friends -- the best of, even."

Naruto smiled, his eyes crinkling. It wasn't his usual idiotic grin, it was just a slight, serene smile. It carried much more happiness than his grin ever did, and Sakura could tell.

"That means a lot to me, Sakura-chan," Naruto said softly.

They were both silent for a few minutes, just staring out at the ocean. Sakura smiled to herself when she saw Naruto's legs shake -- he was itching to say or do _something_. He may have matured, but he hadn't gained much patience.

"So..." Naruto said slowly. "Uh... You... talked to Sasuke, huh?"

"About what?" Sakura asked innocently.

Naruto just stared at her knowingly. Sakura wasn't entirely sure what he meant, but she could surely guess.

"Sakura-chan, please don't play dumb," Naruto sighed. "It doesn't suit you."

Sakura blushed, looking up at him -- he had effectively just complimented her, calling her smart. He had a rare serious expression on his face, looking down at her patiently.

"Yeah, I talked to him," Sakura sighed. "I'm... so happy I could... somehow convince him to stay..."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said softly, resting his hand on hers. "He stayed, so don't dwell on it -- there's no need to cry."

Oddly enough, Sakura didn't fully mind Naruto's hand on hers. Didn't fully -- she still minded somewhat. She jerked her hand out from under his, wiping at her wet eyes.

He frowned, looking as if he was hating himself for spoiling their time together. Sakura glanced at him, a mix of embarrassment and anger reddening her cheeks. Naruto stared at her for a moment before looking away, upset.

"Naruto," Sakura said after a moment. He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "...Thanks."

"For what?" he asked, confused, though his expression softened.

"Nothing in particular," she said, looking away, blushing even more. "And... I'm sorry about being mean to you so often."

"Heh-heh. Don't worry about it. I probably deserve it most of the time, anyway."

"You kinda do," she said, winking. He grinned in response, and she felt they were on good terms again. "I'm gonna go see how Sasuke-kun is."

"Alright," Naruto nodded, looking out at the ocean some more. "...I think I'm gonna stay out here for a little while longer. You figure they serve food on this thing?"

"I'll come get you when I figure it out," Sakura replied, noticing that Naruto had turned his attention to the moon, which was high in the sky by now. "You listening?"

"Dinner, you'll come get me," Naruto said, still staring upward. "Sakura-chan, if you don't mind me asking, what'd you tell Sasuke? On the night he tried to leave for the Sound?"

"..." Sakura stared at her feet as she slowly walked away, her left hand running along the metal wall of one of the cabins. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

Naruto just nodded, but he wasn't sure if she knew he did, as they weren't even looking at each other anymore. He heard her footsteps recede, and he didn't bother looking to make sure she hadn't simply stopped walking.

Naruto felt like an idiot. Everything was going fine until he brought up Sasuke trying to leave. But at least he knew now, that Sakura had convinced Sasuke somehow.

He also knew Sakura liked him. Not as much as he would have liked, but she said they were friends. The "best of' friends," as she had put it.

That, added to his brother-like bond with Sasuke, put Naruto's mind at ease -- allowing him to enjoy the ocean's smells and sounds, and the night's sights. And later, hopefully, the taste of whatever the ferry had to offer for dinner.

Miso ramen with barbequed pork, hopefully.


	3. Chapter 3 Set Sail

Author's Note: Some more traveling... Also, I made an edit to Chapter One! Originally, "Yoshimitsu Riddin" had green eyes -- now he has dark brown. I forgot to fix that before posting. Read and review, tell me if it's alright, or if I need to hurry up and get to the interesting parts!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Sasuke-kun! Naruto!" Sakura called, knocking on the door of their room.

The guests had been provided cabins throughout the large ferry. Sakura had shared a cabin with a Mist kunoichi of 19, but she had never bothered to learn the woman's name.

"I'm awake!" Naruto called sleepily.

"Well, hurry up!" Sakura said. "We're about to dock!"

"What time is it?" Sasuke asked calmly, opening the door a little. He looked tired, his eyes still half-closed. Behind him, Naruto was just getting out of bed.

"Around 6AM," Sakura replied. Sasuke turned around and began getting ready. "So, hurry! We have to get into town and get some clothes."

"How are we getting to the snow island?" Naruto asked, tossing his sleeping cap into his backpack. "Another ferry, or this one?"

"A different one, this one is going back to Fire Country," Sakura replied.

"Are we going to have to land in Water Country and walk to a port that will take us to the island the clients are on?" Sasuke asked, pulling on a fresh shirt. "Or can get to there from here?"

"I'm not sure," Sakura admitted, shrugging. "I just know we can't go on _this_ boat."

"All ashore who's goin' ashore!" came a deep voice from the deck of the boat.

"You ready?" Sasuke asked of Naruto while zipping his backpack.

"Yeah, let's go," Naruto replied, pulling his backpack on and hurrying for the door. Sakura nodded and hurried down the hall, heading up the stairs and onto the deck.

The three of them hurried down the ramp, leveling out to the dock. It was in much better condition than the other dock, and instead of just one pier, there were dozens -- and that was just at this port.

They walked off the dock, examining the town itself. The buildings were all built of dark-brown wood, it almost looked like driftwood. The roads were all paved with black tar and pebbles -- there seemed to be small gaps that ran like tiny canals down the streets.

"I wonder why the pebbles are separated like that," Naruto said thoughtfully, staring down at the street as they walked, the others looking for a shop.

"We're walking on very slight uphill-incline," Sasuke replied. "And it probably rains a lot out here."

"So," Naruto continued, thinking. "When it rains, the pebbles guide the rain into these little 'canals'?"

"And, if you look," Sakura said, pointing. "The 'canals' run down to the ocean."

"Why would they do that?" Naruto asked. "So the streets don't flood?"

"Probably," Sasuke nodded.

"But if it's on an incline, wouldn't the water just flow down anyway?" Naruto pointed out. "It seems kinda stupid."

"Well, if it was raining hard," Sakura said slowly. "It'd be really slippery, you could slip really easily."

"Oh, I gotcha!" Naruto said brightly, now looking at the buildings.

"Found it," Sasuke said, pointing.

The street ended around twenty meters ahead of them, but it was perpendicular to another street. Making a 'T' A short distance down this second street was the clothing shop.

"Try to keep it cheap," Sasuke said as they entered the shop.

,

An hour later the three Genin exited the shop, though they weren't wearing their new threads, as they had stuffed them into their packs. While in the shop, they had overheard that a ferry was actually heading for the island the clients were on.

There was a monstrous mountain in the center of the isle, apparently used for snowboarding. One side of the island was populated by a few small villages, and was the side used for snowboarding, the side closest to Water Country. The other side was just snow and trees, the side away from Water Country.

The farther in the island you got, the more it snowed. The higher you went up the mountain, the harder it snowed. All three of them were desperately hoping the Yoshimitsu siblings were not at the summit of the mountain.

"So... where the hell on the island are they?" Naruto asked. "On the scroll, it just said what island they were on. For all we know, they moved on to a different one!"

"No... they specifically told us which island," Sasuke said. "But... you're right, I must wonder what they were thinking without telling us where exactly..."

"They said Mist ninja were after them, didn't they?" Sakura asked. "Maybe they were afraid the letter would be intercepted. That means the enemy already knows what island they're on."

"It means the enemy _might_ know where they are," Sasuke corrected. "However, it amazes me that this only earned a B-rank, with enemy ninja."

"It just had to be Mist ninja again, huh?" Naruto joked. "Man, I feel all nostalgic about Wave Country."

"Except instead of learning tree-climbing with Sensei, we might learn water-walking from Naruto," Sakura smiled. "Or, rather, I will. I bet you already know how, huh, Sasuke-kun?"

"...Yeah," Sasuke said vaguely.

"You used Sharingan yesterday, huh?" Naruto smirked.

"..." Sasuke was silent, and just kept walking.

"So, Sakura-chan," Naruto said brightly, turning his attention to her. "You were the one that found out about the boat to the island, right? When's it go?"

"In around an hour," Sakura replied. Naruto frowned, kicking at a rock like the last time he had been denied of exploring. "I know what you mean, I was hoping to look around, too."

"Well, we don't have the tickets," Naruto pointed out with a mischievous grin. "We could take the next boat, and look around. I bet they have tons of cool stuff we won't find in Fire Country."

"And you're suggesting we bring all of the stuff we'd buy?" Sasuke questioned.

"We could store it all somewhere," Naruto said, determined to go through with his 'plan.'

"Maybe the clients will let us look around on the way back," Sakura said hopefully, trying to make everyone happy. "They're 13 and 16, they'll probably go for it."

Sasuke nodded and glanced at Naruto. Naruto scrunched up his face in a pout, crossing his arms and looking away. Sakura stared at Naruto, and he glanced at her. Her green eyes were bright and shining...

"Fine," Naruto huffed. _Damn Sakura-chan's cuteness._

"Hee-hee," Sakura giggled. "So we're off to the eastern docks!"

She hooked her elbows with theirs, hurrying down the street. Sasuke tried -- though not very hard, seeing as how he didn't pull it off -- to pull away. Naruto just blushed and hurried alongside her.

They soon reached the eastern docks, which looked just like the western docks.

The red boat was smaller than the ferry, about thirty feet in length and fifteen feet in width, and had two cabins in the center -- the main mast between the cabins. It could probably hold around fifty people when packed, but they'd probably only sell around twenty tickets since the trip would take a full day.

Naruto's attention, however, was on a smaller orange boat -- ten feet long and six feet wide, four chairs including the driver. Naruto wasn't sure if it was the sleek design or the orange that matched his clothes. Regardless, this thing looked fast.

"Naruto, what are you staring at?" Sakura demanded, sounding impatient. "Hurry, the ship is going to leave soon!"

"Hmm... Okay, fine," Naruto said, hurrying over to the ship.

"Are there three tickets left?" Sakura asked of the young woman selling the tickets. She was sitting at a small booth with "1,000 Ryou -- One-Way" on it.

"...Ooh..." the woman said. "I'm sorry, only two beds left."

"Damn," Sakura muttered.

Naruto looked over at the orange speedboat. A wealthy-looking man was getting into it. So much for that idea.

"However," the woman said slowly, looking as if she was thinking hard. "If you pay for three, you could probably all get on -- but one wouldn't get a cot."

"That's fine," Naruto said immediately. He pulled out his toad wallet, and pulled out 3000 ryou.

"Naruto, no, we can each buy our own ticket," Sakura smiled.

"Nah, I wanna," Naruto assured. "Cuz you're getting a bed regardless, Sakura-chan. So if I buy the tickets, I get the other bed."

"I don't need a bed, _dobe_," Sasuke said. "I would've given it to you regardless. If you want to pay, be my guest."

"..." Naruto glared at Sasuke for a few seconds before smirking. "Nice try, Sasuke. If I agree to that, Sakura-chan will insist you get the bed for being selfless. So..."

"So you're stuck," Sasuke smirked. "You either buy the tickets, and Sakura insists I get the bed. Or you buy only your ticket, and I_ take_ the bed."

"Or I buy my ticket, and her ticket," Naruto said. "And let you pay for your own."

"I think..." Sakura said slowly. "That if Naruto were to buy my ticket, then it'd only be fair for him to get the second bed."

"Hee-hee," Naruto grinned. He put 1000 ryou back into his wallet, setting down the 2000 for his ticket and Sakura's ticket. The woman handed him two green tickets, and he handed one to Sakura.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" Naruto beamed. "Never thought you'd be on my side for once."

"Don't get used to it," she smirked, walking onboard.

Naruto furrowed his brow in confusion for a moment, but he just shrugged and hurried up the ramp to look around the boat. Sasuke sighed and handed the woman 1000 ryou, and took the gray ticket -- the color difference showing he would not get a bed. He walked up the ramp onto the deck, looking around.

Naruto had concluded, in the ten seconds he had been onboard, that this boat was boring. Even more boring than the last one -- because he could stare at the stars on the last one. The two cabin on the boat were exactly the same, just a bunch of beds.

There were only four men on the crew -- one to steer, two to tend the mast, and one to help the passengers pass the time. This last member was the youngest, probably in his late teens or early twenties -- while the rest were all in their early-mid thirties.

"So there we were!" the young crewmember exclaimed, apparently telling some of the other passengers some tall tale. "In the middle of a raging storm in the middle of the ocean!..."

Sasuke stopped paying attention after that -- he was never one for stories like that... Well, that wasn't true -- he had loved to listen to Itachi's mission stories, and had actually learned to read from Itachi's mission reports.

"I can't wait to see the snow!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly from the railing. "I wanna try to snowboard!"

"You won't have time," Sasuke said, walking up and leaning up against the railing Naruto was sitting on. "They're in danger, we need to find them and leave ASAP."

"He has a point," Sakura said, walking up from the stern of the ship. "But, you know, if they're on the mountain somewhere, we could snowboard down."

"I'm beginning to hope they're on the mountain," Naruto laughed.

"Don't," Sasuke sighed. "Things will just get worse the higher up the mountain they are... If they're on the mountain."

"My bet's on the tip of the mountain," Naruto grinned, pointing up.

"Knowing our luck..." Sakura sighed, staring into the water.

"We might as well head directly for the summit," Sasuke nodded.


	4. Chapter 4 Whiteout

CHAPTER FOUR -- WHITEOUT

Author's Notes: Longest chapter so far! Heck, this thing is almost as big as the other chapters combined. I was originally going to have 2,000 words as the max of a chapter... But I realized that's not really very much. Anyway... The plot thickens! Maybe things will get interesting!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was white. Really white. That was the first thing Naruto could think of when he saw the island the clients were on. There was a red-brick town by the docks, smoke billowing from dozens of smokestacks. It looked like a small, warm, cozy little place.

"I suggest you put on warmer clothes," one of the other male passengers said -- the cabins had split up the genders, for the most part. "It's heated in here, but it's freezing outside."

Naruto nodded and reached into his backpack, Sasuke and... well, everybody else doing the same. They all changed, Naruto and Sasuke stowing their forehead protectors into their backpacks, making sure everything was buttoned and zipped up before exiting the cabin.

Naruto's jacket was much thicker than his usual attire, and a slightly darker shade of orange. There was no Uzumaki insignia on his left arm, and the shoulders were not blue. There was also a hood, the edge the same furry material as Kiba's.

A black point ended its point on the small of his back, riding up his back as it grew thicker and splitting into two, riding on his shoulders and down the sides of his arms, forming arrows.

The pants were the same darker orange, the pockets outlined in black. A single thick line of black going from the hip down to the ankle on the side of the left leg.

Sasuke was wearing a blue leather-looking cloak with long-sleeves, as well as a baggy hood. Think the cloak Naruto wears in 1st movie The zipped and edges of the hood were outlined in black. His pants were the same color and material, the pockets outlined in black.

"Hey, where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, reaching into his backpack and pulling out something familiar... his green goggles.

"Those things?" Sasuke asked with a smirk, raising an eyebrow.

"I figure since you said we shouldn't wear our headbands, and it snows, I oughta wear some goggles," Naruto grinned, pulling at the strap to tug them on, keeping them strapped over his forehead.

The women then began filing out of their cabin. Naruto and Sasuke wondered over, mingling with the crowd until they reached Sakura, who was just getting off -- probably thinking they had already gotten off.

Sakura's coat, like her teammates' new clothes, was roughly the same color as her usual clothes. Sakura's was a plain red coat with a hood, the cuffs of the arms had a white, furry material -- as did her hood, like Kiba's. Her pants were also red, the white fur on the pant-cuffs. Her hood was up, but her face was already pink from the cold.

"Let's get started," Sakura said right away, hurrying for town. "I'm not that cold, but I hate this."

"Heh," Sasuke chuckled. "Right... Well, we might as well use the photos and look around. If we split up, we can cover more ground..."

"But only two of them give a good look at their faces," Sakura pointed out. "So will two of us be working together?"

"Yeah, you and Naruto," Sasuke replied. "I'll be fine on my own."

"Wait up!" Naruto exclaimed. "I thought we agreed they were at the top of the mountain!"

"I was being sarcastic at the time," Sasuke said. "If we go up there, and they're not there... I will be pissed. Now, which one do you two want to question about?"

"I guess the girl," Sakura shrugged. Naruto shrugged as well, and took the photos from Sasuke. "When and where should we meet up, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke looked around, now that they entered the town. He pointed to a small restaurant -- it was a small, cozy place with a fire clearly visible from the windowpanes lining the wall.

"Meet up there in one hour," Sasuke said. "We'll exchange any gathered info, eat, and plan things out a little."

"Sounds good," Naruto nodded. "C'mon, Sakura-chan. My bet's on the grocery store -- we just gotta find it."

"That's pretty smart," Sakura commended. "Choosing places they'd go regularly."

"I try," Naruto grinned.

The trip was short -- Naruto had actually seen the food market farther down the street. They entered the warm store, which only had a single room for customers that was about the size of a bedroom.

This town apparently focused on meat, especially bear and deer -- or at least that was Sakura's impression. The only fruits and vegetables were all imported from Water or Lightning Country.

"I hear it's gonna snow," a thick-built man said to another customer. "But I don't think it's gonna reach town."

"Crap, I was hopin' t' go huntin,'" the other man groaned. "Guess that means I gotta buy dinner..." He grabbed a skinned chicken, bought it, and he and his buddy exited.

"Excuse me," Sakura said politely to the elderly woman behind the counter. "We're looking for a friend of ours... Here's her picture..."

"Hmm... No, I'm afraid she doesn't ring any bells," the woman replied, shaking her head.

"Maybe you know her brother?" Naruto asked. "Tall guy, skinny..."

"Dark brown hair and eyes," Sakura added. She put the back of her wrist at her hairline, trying to imitate Riddin's hairstyle. "His hair kinda looks like this?"

"Hmm... No, I'm afraid not," the lady said. "But maybe you should try the pharmacy. Some people like killing their own game, and ignore fruit and vegetables. Find them... unnecessary. Stupid, really..."

Sakura glanced at Naruto. He was a bright red -- he never ate any of the healthy stuff either, Kakashi was always riding on him to eat a 'balanced diet.'

"So, uh, where's the pharmacy at?" Naruto asked, trying to keep his voice even. "We're kinda new to town."

"Down the street, take a left," she instructed. "It's on the north side of the street, the right."

"Thank you for your time, ma'am," Sakura smiled.

"If you need any food, or any more info, come by," the lady said brightly, smiling a wrinkly smile. "If you kill any game, we will purchase it if it's in good condition."

"We'll remember that," Sakura said, raising her hand as she and Naruto exited.

"I guess it makes sense we wouldn't find them in a butcher shop," Naruto said after a moment. "It's kinda funny the front sign makes it out to be your normal grocery store."

"What makes you say it's a butcher shop?" Sakura asked.

Naruto sniffed. "You could kinda smell blood."

"I didn't notice," Sakura admitted. They turned onto the street the pharmacy was on. "You think there's a normal food market, like at Konoha? Or should we just ask at the pharmacy, and if that turns up nothing, ask where we might get some info?"

"Uh... Yeah, that sounds good," Naruto shrugged. "Sakura-chan, you're a girl-"

"Thank you for noticing," she said through gritted teeth.

Naruto didn't notice her remark, "Even if they're hiding out, there must be somewhere this..." He looked at the photo, "-'Reiyin' would go."

"Hmm..." Sakura hummed thoughtfully as they entered the pharmacy. She handed Naruto the other photos, and he approached the pharmacist, and she stayed at the entrance.

_Where would she go in a snowy, hunter town like this?_ Sakura wondered, letting Naruto handle the questioning. _A clothing shop, maybe? It'd be easier if I knew a little about her..._

"We're in luck, Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned as he walked back over to her, dragging Sakura from her thoughts. "This guy says Yoshimitsu Rayn comes down here every two weeks. She's due to come in tomorrow -- probably around noon."

Author's Note: It's written in kana as Yoshimitsu Reiyin. However, since I'll be using 'Rayn' for the most part. So it's not like they're two different people, my beta got confused -- hence why I made this note.

"Does he know where they're staying?" Sakura asked. "Or anything about her brother, Riddin?"

"Nah, just that Rayn comes in here regularly," Naruto replied, shaking his head.

"So, we just try asking about Riddin?" Sakura suggested. "Since we can find Rayn tomorrow?"

"Well, without a photo, it might be difficult," Naruto shrugged. "We did our job! I think we should enjoy the remaining time until we meet with Sasuke."

"How do you propose we do that?" Sakura questioned, glancing at him.

Naruto's face brightened. "Let's try snowboarding!"

_Snowboarding!_ Inner-Sakura screamed. _Let's do it! Shannaro!_

"C'mon, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said with a grin. "I bet'cha we could get up there and board down, and still get to the restaurant on time!"

"Eh... alright..." Sakura said slowly, trying not to show her excitement. "But if we're late, it's on your head."

,

"_Ne_... Kyouku-san," the first figure said, in a brown overcoat. Narucho was a thick man, and not from muscle, his head shaved. "I know where the girl is gonna be tomorrow, at noon. Following those Leaf brats paid off."

He and his two associates were sitting in a bar, even though the third was underage -- all wearing the same brown overcoat. It was a dump, the bartender didn't care if he sold a 12-year-old sake.

"Alright, Narucho," the second figure, Kyouku, chuckled. Kyouko was a tall figure, his black hair cut short. "Good job. Yokoji, you think you're ready for this?"

Yokoji, the underage at seventeen, sighed. He was fairly thin, his steel-gray hair almost over his eyes in a mop-top way. "Whatever, Uncle Kyouku."

"We finally get to end this," Narucho grinned. "Twelve years of this clan war, we finally get to end it. It'll be the end of the Yoshimitsu."

"And the Kajiya shall be victorious!" Kyouku yelled proudly.

Yokoji just sighed.

,

"Old man!" Naruto exclaimed, banging his palm on the counter.

They were about ¾ up the mountain, in a large ski lodge. It was made of wood, supported by several beams -- since it was on a slope.

"Show _some_ respect," Sakura hissed. "Sir, we were hoping to rent to snowboards..."

The old man chuckled, no doubt at Naruto's rudeness. "Alright... The boy's around 148 cm, and you're around 150 cm..."

"Roughly," Sakura nodded, impressed. "How'd you know?"

The old man smirked and pointed behind Sakura. She glanced behind her shoulder -- the to of them were standing in front of a wall. On the wall was a massive ruler, which allowed the old man to easily judge their height.

"Oh..." Sakura said simply, blushing and sweat-dropping.

"What type of snowboard do you want?" the old man chuckled. "Any preference on color or design?"

The Genin glanced at each other.

"We dunno anything about snowboards," Naruto explained flatly. "Just give us an average board."

The old man nodded, handing them both black boards with no designs. They took the boards and handed over the money that the signs indicated, wandering out to the launch ramp.

"Oh, by the way!" the old man called. "This mountain is known for sudden, violent snowstorms!" He laughed when the Genin froze in place. "Just keep boarding downhill, and you should be fine!"

It was just a ladder leading up to a platform, adjacent to the platform, to get a good start before hitting the snow.

"Y'wanna go first?" Naruto offered, looking up the tall ladder.

"Umm... No, you can go first," Sakura said nervously.

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed, beginning to climb with his board in his jacket. He reached the top, and yanked out the board. "Let's do it!"

He set the board down and set his feet into the foot clasps. He locked them in place, and side-jumped over to the ramp. He looked down the ramp, biting down on his tongue in thought.

"How do I start?" he asked dimly, looking down at her. "Do I jump? Or just kinda lean?"

"My guess is jump!" Sakura called. "Good luck!"

"Right," Naruto said uncertainly, lowering his goggles over his eyes.

He made a bigger side-jump, tilting the nose of the snowboard forward. He slid down the ram quickly, but he felt off balance while standing straight up, so he crouched down a bit.

He flew from the ramp, landing on the compacted snow, making his way down the mountain. He could faintly hear Sakura cheering, but he just crouched farther down, picking up more speed.

_This isn't that hard!_ thought Naruto. _I doubt I can turn too well, but at least I haven't fallen yet._

"Turn, you idiot!" Sakura yelled, cupping her hands over her mouth. "Before you hit the tree!"

Naruto tried shifting his weight to his left foot, and lifted his right foot a little. The nose of the snowboard popped up, and Naruto's speed dropped dramatically. He managed to jerk his right leg to the right, and then dropped the nose -- he was now going in a different direction. He just barely missed the tree, and had lost a lot of speed.

Naruto dropped down to a virtual crouch, his speed picking up again. He was approaching a jump, and he had to decide whether to try the jump or steer around it. He decided to jump.

He pushed his weight down on the board, and then jumped just before the sudden drop that was the jump. It was a small jump, but he was airborne. His stomach churned, feeling empty. He quickly dropped, snow flying everywhere, and he continued down the mountain.

He tried glancing behind him, but didn't see Sakura anywhere. _Should I stop and wait for her? Maybe she fell and is stuck or something..._

Naruto crouched all the way down again, grabbing the nose and tail of his board. He jumped, making a 180º, and was snowboarding backwards. Difficult? As hell. But possible -- of course, now he felt off balance, and was going slower than ever.

"Hmm..." Naruto hummed thoughtfully. Sakura was nowhere in sight. Naruto got an idea, and made his favorite hand seal. "_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!" Shadow Clone

A tower of _Kage Bunshin_ appeared on his shoulders, allowing the _Kage Bunshin _on top to see much higher up the mountain than the real Naruto.

"You see her?!" Naruto called up, straining from the weight.

"No!" He looked up at the sky. "Hey... It's snowing real hard all of a sudden..."

"Damn," Naruto muttered. He ended the Jutsu, and all the _Kage_ _Bunshin_ disappeared. "Sakura-chan, where are you?"

He turned the board, and slowed to a stop. He unhooked his feet from the snowboard and began walking uphill, leaving the board. He pulled on his hood, glancing up to see it was indeed snowing very violently. In only a few seconds, wind was blowing so hard he nearly fell, a hat of snow gathering on his head.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, and was barely able to hear himself.

"_Oh, by the way!" the old man called. "This mountain is known for sudden, violent snowstorms!" He laughed when the Genin froze in place. "Just keep boarding downhill, and you should be fine!"_

"Crap..." Naruto groaned. "_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!"

Dozens of Kage Bunshin appeared, all clutching at their jackets. They all began looking around, calling for Sakura.

"All together!" the real Naruto yelled. "1... 2... 3..."

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

,

_I can't see a thing!_ Sakura thought, crouching down so she could get off this mountain as fast as possible. _There's snow everywhere, I can barely see my own hand..._

"Naruto!" Sakura roared. "WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Nothing but the howling wind replied. Sakura frantically looked around, but everything was the same. The snowstorm was swift, loud, and blinding.

Unfortunately, the blinding was what got Sakura. She hit a patch of rocks head on, and she was thrown forward, her board breaking in half. She hit the rocks hard, but she was alright -- nothing seemed to be broken, but she would have some serious bruises.

Prying the shattered board from her feet, Sakura looked around.

"NARUTO!" she yelled. "Damn, I can't see anything..."

But Sakura still had a tiny sense of direction -- they were on a mountain, so she could tell which way was uphill and which was downhill.

But which way to go? Downhill, where there the weather would be better -- like the old man said? Or uphill, where there were caves -- she and Naruto had passed by several on the trek up? She had no idea how long this snowstorm would last.

If she tripped going uphill, she'd face-plant into the snow. She could freeze to death if she didn't have the strength to get back up. She felt pretty weak at the moment, too. Crashing into rocks probably had something to do with it.

If she fell going downhill... She couldn't help but think of the cartoons where someone tripped, creating an exponentially growing snowball. Not only would she freeze, she'd get physically ill. Not an honorable death for a kunoichi of her caliber. Not a good death for anybody, really.

Paranoia and too many cartoons as a child dictated she go uphill. Fear of death dictated she go downhill. But she had been trained not to fear death. She had never been trained not to fear cartoon antics.

Uphill it was.

The wind roaring in her ears, even through her hood, she trudged uphill. She trudged through the slush, hugging herself, trying to pull the jacket tighter against her freezing body.

Her teeth were chattering beneath her scarf, so she grinded her teeth together so they wouldn't shatter against each other. She bit down on her lip so hard that they bled -- the warm blood was sickening wonderfully warm against her cold lips and chin.

After what seemed like a frozen eternity, but it was really almost half an hour, the path evened out. She saw brown and black amongst the white.

She had entered a cave.

Snow had blown several meters into the cave, but the cave was so deep she couldn't see the end of it, it just disappeared into the darkness.

Not that she saw something other than white, she realized her vision was blurry. Had she cut herself on the fall? Would she die of hypothermia? It seemed pretty likely.

_I can't stop, even if there's only a few inches of snow,_ thought Sakura. _I just need to get to where it's dry... Maybe there's wood or something farther in, so I can get warm._

"Naruto!" she called, her voice echoing in the darkness. "Are you... in here?..."

She continued walking forward, trudging through the snow -- it was so much easier now that there was no wind blowing at her. Her steps were slower, her body so cold she could barely move.

Her breathing slowed, becoming deeper. She occasionally let out a shudder, but she wasn't sure if it was because of death closing in on her, or purely the cold. Perhaps both.

Her strength was sapped. She fell to her knees, hugging herself. She face-planted into the snow, and she didn't even have the strength to move anymore, so she couldn't get up or even turn her head.

_I can't believe this is it..._ thought Sakura. _I'm sorry Naruto... Sasuke-kun..._

The blurs all melded into a black, and Sakura's world stopped.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Author's Notes: I was thinking... If people asked questions on slightly confusing parts, I would be able to explain it later -- just because I picked up on it, and my beta did, doesn't mean everyone else will.

I will see you all soon... All of 16 you.. if there's even that many, I just see that many hits.


	5. Chapter 5 Search Party

"Jeez, this sucks... At least I didn't bring her all the way to the back..." The voice belonged to a male, probably in his mid-teens.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes, but everything was still blurry. _I'm not dead?_

The world began to come into focus. It was dark, but there was enough lighting to make out her surroundings.

She could make out a dark brown wall, a few lit lanterns on the ground. Oddly enough, porcelain bathtub with no plumbing, so you had to fill it an empty it by hand. And the tub was resting over a fire. It was almost completely filled... with snow, melting snow.

Finally, she saw a young man, holding a bucket of snow, walking toward the bath.

He was wearing a thin gray jacket and winter pants. He wore a black bandana over the lower half of his face, his eyes the same brown as his hair, which was pulled into a crude ponytail, some of his bangs escaping, hanging limply.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently, crouching down next to her and setting the bucket down.

She felt frozen to her bone, felt numb. Probably frostbite or something. She felt hungry, tired, and still couldn't move. She was unable to feel her hands, or arms, or... anything, really. No, she could feel her back -- she was not leaning against the cave wall, it was something soft.

The young man cupped her cheek, using his thumb to keep her eye open. "...Your eyes show no sign of brain trauma... That's good."

Sakura's eye watered a little from being forced wide open for a few seconds, but she couldn't wipe it, so she just kept blinking. And it hurt. How the hell is it possible for blinking to hurt?!

The young man grabbed a cloth and gently wiped her eyes. She nodded appreciatively, and her eyes watered again as the action racked her with pain. The young man sighed and wiped her eyes again.

"Try not to move, okay?" he asked softly. "You're really hurt -- there was ice on some sections of your body. You were bruised and a little cut, but you don't seem to have hypothermia."

He grabbed the bucket and walked over to the tub, dumping the slush into it.

Sakura managed to look down at herself. She was wearing different clothes than before -- instead of red winter clothes, these were a light blue. She looked up at the boy.

"So... you seemed to have figured it out," he said, blushing somewhat. "Your other clothes were real wet, so _Imouto_ changed you." _Imouto_ Little sister

Sakura looked around, but saw no girl. She was either deeper in the cave, or had left for some reason.

"Uh..." he said. "You probably shouldn't talk, and blinking seems painful, so... Look down for yes, up for no. Do you trust me?"

She stared down at the ground. He sighed audibly, and she glanced up to see his shoulders actually sank with relief.

"Well, that's good," he said brightly, crouching down right in front of her. His eyes crinkled as if he was smiling, and she could see a faint blush underneath the bandana.

"?" She just stared at him.

"Cuz you're taking a bath when that gets warm," he said, jerking his thumb at the melting ice.

"!" Sakura's eyes were wide open.

"I know, I know," he said, blushing even more. He couldn't even look at her anymore. "But, I once read warm water is a good treatment for frostbite. And you have frostbite everywhere, and you need to get treated..."

She just stared at him some more.

"...You're probably wondering why I won't take you to a doctor? It's because there's a massive storm going on. I take you out there, you die."

"..." Sakura stared down at her feet.

The young man made a few hand seals, approaching the tub of snow. He exhaled a small flame, melting the ice and snow. It was all liquid, though still fairly cold, when his Jutsu ended.

"Man, that takes a lot outta me," he sighed. He stumbled over, sitting down next to her. "So... are you okay with the bath thing? Or is that a big no-no, and you'd rather wait a few days for the storm to pass?"

"!" Her eyes were wide again. _Days?! For one storm?! I HATE THIS ISLAND!_

"By-the-by," the boy said conversationally. "If you decide to wait, there's a 94-percent chance you'll die from the cold." He blushed some more. "Sorry, but it's the truth."

_If I go along with this, I'm going to have to sit in a bath with a complete stranger in the vicinity. If I don't, I'll die. But what if he's just a bluffing pervert?_

She looked over at him. He glanced at her, and she could see a silent apology in his eyes. She stared at the ground some more. Sakura eventually nodded, stars dancing in her eyes as she did.

"That means I have to help you undress, because _Imouto_ isn't here," he said slowly. "...Do you want to keep the spandex stuff on? I have some towels, but I'm afraid they'll trap water and you'll freeze all over again... In places you _really_ don't want to freeze."

_He has a point... Dammit..._

She looked at him, her eyes going up and down as if nodding -- she didn't want to really nod again, it hurt too much.

"Damn..." he groaned, standing. "..." He stared at Sakura's backpack thoughtfully. "_Ne_, do you have more clothes in there? More, erm, undergarments?"

She nodded with her eyes again. He nodded and began to walk over to her backpack before stopping mid-step.

"Is it okay if I grab them?" he asked over his shoulder. She managed to nod without her head exploding with pain.

He quickly rustled through it, pulling out the clothing. He set it down next to the backpack and hurried over to her.

"I'll help you out of most of the clothes," he said softly. "But leave you in the undergarments, and help you into the water, since you have dry backups."

"Kay," she managed to choke out.

. . .

"Dammit!" Naruto yelled, punching the wall angrily. "I should've kept looking!"

He and Sasuke were in a motel room, thinking things through. The whiteout had began almost ten hours ago. It was now late at night, the same day they had arrived on the island.

"Beating yourself up isn't going to do anything," Sasuke said evenly, sitting on the bed with his fingers interlocked. "As soon as the storm stops, we'll look for her."

"But the villagers said that could take days!" Naruto yelled back. "She could die! She might already be dead!"

"..." Sasuke stared at the wall some more. "Why were you two up there in the first place?"

"...!" Naruto's face dawned with a horrid realization. "This is my fault! I was the one that suggested we go up there to snowboard! I even heard these hunters talking about how it'd snow before we went up! Then the old man selling boards told us it'd snow..."

"..." Sasuke sighed, lying back with his legs still dangling over the bed's edge. "It's likely she was injured, or her board broke, and that's why she didn't come down."

"Is that supposed to comfort me?!" Naruto demanded. "Shut up, you're not helping!"

"We're going to go look for her," Sasuke said, sitting back up.

"!" Naruto's eyes went wide, his eyebrows raising with surprise. "Se-.. Seriously?!"

"Yeah," Sasuke said, grabbing his coat. "Put your jacket and goggles back on, we're going to go rescue her."

"Alright!" Naruto grinned, pulling his jacket on. "With your _Katon_, and my _Kage Bunshin_, we'll find her in no time!"

"Now wait, Naruto," Sasuke said. "We need to think things through a little. Sakura's smart, she'd either go downhill as fast as possible, or go a little more uphill to a cave. You did say there were caves, didn't you?"

"Y-yeah! Well... Watta you think we should do?"

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. "We'll check all the caves we can find. There's no way in hell we'll find her if she tried going downhill."

"So you're saying if she went downhill, she's dead and buried in snow?" Naruto asked gravely, becoming pale. "Jeez..."

"No point in focusing on the negatives," Sasuke said, strapping on his new black goggles. "We're going to have to prepare. Empty out your backpack -- we'll fill them with frozen food, and some dry clothes for ourselves and Sakura. We can get wood off the trees, and I can use _Katon_." Fire Release

"We don't have enough food," Sasuke said after a few minutes. Both their backpacks were only half-full. "Didn't you mention a butcher shop?"

"Yeah, you wanna go?" Naruto guessed.

"Yeah, let's take out backpacks... bring all of your kunai, too." Sasuke zipped up his pack, and then tied his kunai holster to his right thigh. "We'll fill up the packs, get some medicine from the pharmacy, and then head out."

Twenty minutes later, the two of them were standing at the edge of town, staring up at the mountain. They could already hear the wind blowing, all the way down at the base.

"Hey, if we stuff snow in our backpacks, wouldn't that preserve the meat a bit better?" Naruto asked. "Keep it fresh or something?"

"Good idea," Sasuke nodded, shrugging off his pack. They filled the gaps between the meat with snow. They pulled the packs back on, glancing at each other before lowering their goggles over their eyes, and beginning the hike.

. . .

The young man was sitting against the tub with his legs crossed, his hands on his knees. Sakura was lying in the tub, the water warm -- she still had her black spandex bra-thingy, and her green spandex shorts. The fire was still going under the tub.

She was trying to look at it like she wasn't in a bath, still somewhat-clothed, with a stranger sitting next to it. She was trying to look at it as if she was swimming, and the boy was her lifeguard.

"Feeling any better?" the boy asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"Y-yeah, a little," she breathed. "Umm... D'you know if your little sister..."

"She left early to get medicine, if that's what you mean..."

"N...no, that's not what I mean," she said softly.

The boy looked over his shoulder again. The poor girl was a bright red. He wasn't sure if she was blushing, or if it was still just frostbite. Her face was pretty swollen -- she had not looked in her reflection yet, she was just staring up at the rocky ceiling.

"...If she checked my, uh..." she said awkwardly.

"I'm going to go ahead and guess what you're going to ask, and I don't know," he replied, standing and stretching. "If you want, you can check. I can either leave or pinky-swear not to look."

Sakura smiled a little, but her chest hurt when she tried to laugh. She stared at the ceiling for a little while.

"Hey," she said thoughtfully. "You rescued me and all, but we don't really know each other. My name's Haruno Sakura... I'm, um, from Fire Country."

The boy's face brightened. He glanced over at Sakura, and nodded as if in greeting.

"You're a Leaf Kunoichi, huh?" he asked.

"How'd-? Did you see me forehead protector in my backpack?"

"Nah, I just put some stuff together," he chuckled. "Fire Country, strong girl like you. Just figured you were a ninja. Plus...The name's Yoshimitsu Riddin."

"!" _How did I not realize that? Well, I suppose I can't see most of his face... His hair is different, too..._

"Me and _Imouto_ have been waitin' for ya, Sakura," Riddin continued, lowering the bandana to reveal a wolfish grin, and his black-tipped nose. _Imouto_ Little Sister

"Now we got an even better reason t' treat ya. Rayn'll be back tomorrow morning with medicine, she's going to the pharmacy to get medicine for you."

"Even through this blizzard?" Sakura questioned. "You said we'd die if we tried to get to town."

"I said _you_ would die," Riddin clarified. "A healthy person who knows what they're doing could survive."

"...What about two ninja, even though they have no experience in this field?" Sakura asked. She had put thought into the two of them trying to find her, and she was just curious.

"...As long as they find shelter in a cave when they try to sleep, they oughta be fine," Riddin nodded. "I'll grab some stuff, and make a sign or something so they'll be able to identify the cave."

"Thanks," Sakura smiled.

"Oh," he said, remembering something. "I'm also gonna grab a set of goggles, a nose clamp, and a snorkel for ya."

"W.. why?"

"Because it looks like you rammed your face into the cave wall," he replied, tongue in cheek, as he jerked his thumb at the wall.

Sakura turned a bright red, both from embarrassment and anger. She looked down at her reflection in the water for the first time. Riddin was right, her face was literally red -- strange blood-red bumps on her cheeks and forehead.

He tilted his head. "Or, at least I'm hopin' all that is frostbite."

"Of course it is!" she yelled. She smiled suggestively, blushing through the frostbite. "I don't mean to brag, but I'm quite the looker."

"Then we gotta get that pretty face of yours back to normal, right?" he grinned. "Well, I'll leave you to it. Call me if you need help, remember to remind me if you remove those clothes... See ya in a bit."

She just raised her hand, waving pathetically as he disappeared into the darkness, delving deeper into the cave. He rose his hand with his thumb, middle, and index fingers up. He tapped it to his temple in a mock solute, and the shadows engulfed him.

. . .

Author's Notes: Please don't say anything like anybody's given any reviews :'( about this being SakuOC. It's not.

Are the chapters too long now? First too short, then too long? I'm trying to find a happy medium, what's a good word count?

Til next time, I'm out.


	6. Chapter 6 Revelations

"Did you find anything?!" Naruto called over the roar of the wind.

"Empty!" Sasuke yelled back. He pulled out a kunai, and jumped up to the top of the mouth of the cave. He drove the kunai into the wall, indicating that they had inspected that cave.

"All these are empty, too!" Naruto called -- he had used several dozen _Kage Bunshin_, all of them now embedding kunai into the rock.

"Sasuke, I think this snow is driving me crazy!" one of the _Kage Bunshin_ called. "I swear I just saw a girl running downhill!"

"Just keep looking!" Sasuke called. "It doesn't matter if you see a girl unless it's Sakura!"

"Right!" Naruto yelled. "So, uh... What time is it?"

"...Around 22:00!" Sasuke roared. "I'm guessing you want to keep going?"

"Hell yeah!" they all yelled, running for new caves.

. . .

"These fools couldn't make this any easier," Kyouku chuckled, the three Kajiya men standing around in an alley. "The Leaf brats are all on the mountain, the older brother is as well. Which leaves the girl open."

"So should we intercept her?" Narucho asked eagerly. "She left for the pharmacy early. It'd be ridiculous for her to try to get back to her brother at night. She'll be easy to kidnap, use as blackmail."

"Good idea," Kyouku nodded. "Narucho, would you like to do the honors?"

"Yeah, yeah," Narucho grinned, shifting left and right. "When d'you think I should do it?"

Kyouku smirked and looked toward the street. Yoshimitsu Rayn, in her shiny black jacket ad pants, walked by the alley. She looked as if she was tired, like she had done a lot of running. Narucho grinned stupidly, glancing at Kyouku. Kyouku nodded, and Narucho hurried out of the alley.

"What I don't understand," Yokoji said after a moment. "Is why you think the brother will come."

"Because he will be convinced that, with the help of the Leaf brats, he will be able to save his sister without anyone dying," Kyouku replied confidently.

"Hm, if you say so," Yokoji said with uncertainty. "I'm beginning to miss home, Uncle. I'm beginning to... doubt this venture of ours."

"Oh, Yokoji..." Kyouku sighed. "While it may be true that this has taken longer than I promised... We will return home as heroes. Narucho and I have raised you since you were eight, yet you aren't anything like either of us."

"You're damn right this has taken longer than promised," Yokoji said, getting agitated. "It's been nine years! You said _one_ year, at the most!"

"The fact that you're still here means a lot, though," Kyouku smiled.

"It was only because I always thought, 'What if they caught them as soon as I left?'!" Yokoji retorted. "But now I'm smarter, I'm beginning to think for myself."

"And what are you thinking?" Kyouku asked in a mocking tone.

"That this entire thing is stupid," Yokoji said flatly. "I was seriously considering going home. I don't care what the clan thinks of me. They'll probably just say I've come to my senses."

Kyouku rolled his eyes. "Just because the rest of the clan does not seen things the way we do-"

"How do you see things?" Yokoji demanded. "From what I understand, the Yoshimitsu and Kajiya were enemies. You lead the assault that wiped out most of the Yoshimitsu. But I never hear of our losses. What were they?"

"It was disgusting," Kyouku said darkly, looking away. "Only I and Narucho survived. I suppose that means both sides only had two survivors -- most of our clan was uninvolved. So it was our victory."

"What the hell happened?" Yokoji asked. "You always say you dominated in a surprise attack. But it seems you're always interrupted before you can finish. How is it the only two survivors were a three year old, and his infant sister?"

"A most frightening tactic..." Kyouku said softly.

"What? Did some adult use some insane Jutsu that only those two children escaped, because they were in a safety zone?"

Kyouku laughed. Yokoji furrowed his brow, confused. Kyouku laughed for a few seconds before grinding his teeth in anger.

"No, an adult was not the cause... The Yoshimitsu were known for their _Fuuin-Jutsu_, they had a weapon sealed away..."

"Well, what was it?" Yokoji demanded.

Kyouku laughed, totally ignoring Yokoji. Yokoji doubted that Kyouku was even aware that he was there anymore. "An incredible weapon, inside one of one of their own..."

"WHO!? WHAT?!"

. . .

"ACHOO!"

Riddin rubbed his nose as he reentered the cave. "Maybe I shoulda worn the bandana," he said thoughtfully. "It'll suck if I get sick now."

Sakura surfaced from the tub. She thought she sensed someone coming -- she was right, Riddin was coming. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small stick, and he performed a few hand seals. He let out a tiny puff of flame onto one end of the stick before sticking the other end in his mouth. Smoke billowed from his mouth.

Sakura removed the snorkel from her mouth, lifting the goggles off of her eyes. Riddin kept his distance, taking another drag on the cigarette, blowing the smoke away from Sakura, toward the mouth of the cave.

"You smoke?" Sakura asked, her voice echoing a little. "Aren't you sixteen?"

"Yeah, I smoke. Yes, I'm sixteen," he replied before taking another drag. "But I find it helps me relax." He shrugged, "I just use _Henge no Jutsu_ to buy them, transform into someone twenty or older."

"That stuff will mess up your lungs," Sakura warned. "You shouldn't smoke, especially when you're so young."

"S'what, you a medical ninja?" Riddin asked, exhaling and dropping the cigarette, stomping down on it.

"No... But I was thinking about asking to be someone's apprentice," Sakura admitted. "And she's a really powerful med-nin."

"Really?" he asked, trying to sound interested. He wandered over and sat against the tub again. "Who?"

"The Godaime Hokage," Sakura replied. "Tsunade-sama. Some call her Tsunade-hime, but I think that's just because she's the granddaughter of the Shodaime." Fifth, Hime Princess, First

"_Hime_, huh? And you wanna be her apprentice? What for?"

"..." Sakura sank deeper into the tub, putting the snorkel back in her mouth so she was submerged up to her eyes. She replied, but it was indistinct through the snorkel.

"Come again?"

She sat back up, removing the snorkel. "A friend almost abandoned us, because he felt weak. Yet he's so much more powerful than I am. I want to get stronger, for his sake."

"You wanna get stronger to impress someone?" Riddin asked, glancing over his shoulder. "Am I understanding it right?"

"In a way," she admitted, blushing slightly. "But, also to protect him. To protect him, my friends and family... Even the strangers of the village."

"Big goals there," Riddin observed. He grinned at her, "May I ask who the lucky guy is?"

"You can, but I won't answer," she replied with a smirk, putting the snorkel on and sinking back into the water.

. . .

"...So, it's decided," Kyouku said with a wide smile. "Someone must... delay the Leaf brats."

"..." Yokoji stared down at the ground, fists clenched. The gears in his head were quickly turning. "Right, I'll do it. What will you plan on doing while I'm gone?"

"I will plan our next move, as well as look for Narucho and the girl," Kyouku replied, beginning to exit the alley. "Do as you see fit, but do not attack the Leaf brats. They are vitals pawns, without them, the boy may not feel confident enough to make a rescue attempt."

"If what you say is true about the brother..." Yokoji said thoughtfully. "Wouldn't his sister being in danger, or her death... Fuel him? Make him stronger? Even without his... unique situation, he is quite overprotective. He will come, regardless of what we do to the Leaf ninja."

"However, there is one more problem," Kyouku said, stopping halfway down the alley. "I imagine you've noticed the three squads of Mist shinobi? _They_ may be dealt with."

"Where can I find them?" Yokoji asked flatly, beginning to exit the alley.

"They are heading out tonight," Kyouku replied, beginning to follow Yokoji. "Wait until the Leaf brats turn in for the night. Then annihilate the Mist. It's funny, really... Those Leaf brats are proving to be quite useful."

"Why is that?" Yokoji asked, stopping when the alley ended (or rather, began).

"If Narucho hadn't been tailing the pink-haired girl and the blonde boy, he never would have heard that the Yoshimitsu girl would be at the pharmacy at noon tomorrow."

"But that proved unimportant, as we just saw her walk by," Yokoji pointed out. "And besides, how did you figure out where the Mist ninja would be?"

"I imagine that's because the Leaf kunoichi is lost, and the Yoshimitsu boy found her. So, essentially, we still have the Leaf brats to thank." Kyouku paused, but only momentarily.

"As for the Mist ninja, Narucho saw one of them scouting out the Leaf brats, and Narucho managed to gather some information. If it hadn't been for the Leaf brats, the Mist ninja would have captured the Yoshimitsu scum."

"What does the Mist Village want with the Yoshimitsu, anyway?" Yokoji asked, beginning to head for the mountain, while Kyouku headed the other way -- where Rayn and Narucho went.

"I'm not sure," Kyouku admitted. "But it must be the boy they're really after. They will probably just kill the girl, but since she's not there, they'd probably leave her be."

Yokoji turned around. "Wouldn't it be best if I just take out the Mist ninja, the Leaf kunoichi, and the Yoshimitsu boy? And then just have Narucho or yourself kill the girl?"

"You go ahead and try that," Kyouku chuckled. "I'll tell your parents you died an honorable death."

Yokoji gulped, loudly. Kyouku laughed and walked off, leaving Yokoji with nothing to do but go through with the plan. Yokoji glanced over his shoulder at his eccentric uncle before looking up at the mountain. He pulled his cloak tighter against him.

. . .

"So what about you?" Sakura asked. It had been a few minutes since he had asked who the 'lucky guy' was, and she had gotten uncomfortable in the silence. The fire was out, so long the lanterns lit the cave in the dark night.

"What about me?" he questioned.

Sakura decided to just ask everything at once. "Well, why do you need an escort? Why the Leaf Village, when the Cloud Village is closer? Why is the Mist Village after you? Who else is after you, and why?"

"In order?" Riddin asked sarcastically. "Protection, Leaf was cheaper, I don't know, and I'll explain the last set later."

"Why not now?" Sakura asked.

"How capable are you of fighting right now?" Riddin asked, ignoring her question.

"Not very," she admitted. "Why?"

Riddin grabbed the plug that was under the tub and pulled it, draining the water. Sakura guessed that was a good idea, she was getting wrinkled from being in the water for so long. She managed to sit up some more, using her arms to lift herself up a little. She would have sworn to God that she saw Riddin's ears twitch a little, as if they moved a bit when he was listening to something far away.

"Because we have some unexpected company," Riddin explained, standing up. "Stay down, make sure you're not visible. I'll be back soon."

"Maybe it's my teammates!" Sakura smiled.

"It's not, there's nine of them," Riddin said. He shut all the lanterns on the way, and Sakura was engulfed in darkness.

Unable to move, nine enemies coming, her life in the hands of the civilian she was supposed to be protecting... Sakura was defenseless. She hadn't been scared of the dark since she was little -- probably the day she grew some backbone and Ino became her rival.

She hadn't been that scared when she was trudging through the snow, because she could do something to abate the fear, to avoid death. Now she could only sit there, waiting and listening.

"Riddin... I'm kind of scared," she admitted softly.

"Don't worry," he whispered, his voice as comforting as he could make it. "...You'll be okay. I drained the water, so get as far down in the tub as you can."

She tried to listen to Riddin's footsteps, but she heard none. But she could sense he was walking away -- he walked pretty damn ninja-like for a civilian.

"So..." Riddin said loudly, his voice echoing in the cave. The distance of his voice confirmed he had walked for the cave's entrance. "You guys are here, eh? Heh-heh... Let's see what Water Country's ninja program has to offer."

. . .

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled. "We need to rest! There's no point in killing ourselves!"

"Sakura-chan doesn't have that kind of time!" Naruto called, pissed Sasuke could even _think_ of stopping.

"Naruto, stop being an idiot!" Sasuke roared. "We're of no use to her dead! So shut the hell up and listen to me!"

"Didn't... didn't I just check that cave a minute ago!?" Naruto yelled. There was no kunai at the top of the mouth of the cave. "I swear I just did!"

"...Have you checked this cave?" Sasuke asked, pointing at the one in question.

"...Maybe?" Naruto shrugged. "I dunno, but I _definitely_ checked this one!"

"Well... I didn't check this one..." Sasuke said to himself. "...I'll check it out, just in case..."

"I'm checkin' this stupid cave," Naruto mumbled, entering the cave he was convinced he had already checked.

"Heh." Yokoji dropped from the tree he was hiding in. "I'll mess with a few more kunai before going to eliminate the Mist... Hmm... I'd best hurry."

. . .

"..." _Does this guy think I don't know he's there? _Rayn wondered, looking behind her without turning her head.

Rayn glanced around without moving her head, still facing straight ahead. _Here's the library..._ She turned west, walking a little faster. _There's the restaurant me and Riddin went to when we first arrived... Which means it should be..._

_She's going in the opposite direction from just a moment ago,_Narucho noticed. _What is she up to?_

Rayn closed her eyes, focusing on her hearing to make sure the Kajiya guy was still following. He was. Rayn smiled mischievously, and turned into an alley, seemingly at random.

_What is she?..._Narucho wondered. _Crap, maybe she knows I'm tailing her and is trying to run?..._

Narucho hurried and side-skidded, stopping right at the alley. Bad move, and he knew it. Narucho sweat-dropped.

"Hi!" Rayn said brightly, grinning widely, waving frantically.

I'll try to paint this picture for you, in words. It's one of those little 'Gotcha, surprise!' anime/manga moments where the victim looks sorta... 0.o Unfortunately, it's more of a visual thing to be funny, but please bear with me. Use your mind's eye, if you will.

Imagine Rayn, a skinny 13-year-old girl in black winter clothes, sitting on a skinny cannon, her legs locked around it. It has two small poles on the top of the mouth. In her hand is a lever connected to the skinny cannon.

But it's not just a skinny cannon, it's a harpoon gun. There's two thin wires across the mouth of the harpoon gun, attached to fish reels on either side of the harpoon gun which had a skinny lever attached-- to you can pull at the wire and get more wire.

Rayn stuck out her tongue, yanking on the lever attached to the hull. Narucho squeezed his eyes shut, throwing his hands up to cover his head.

_Kuh-Chank BANG!_

Narucho cracked his eyes open. A metal pole was sticking out of the harpoon gun, pulling the wire taught. Attached to the end of the pole, around the edge, was a small flag that read 'Bang!' Narucho sighed -- it was just a trick, probably to get him to run away.

"Gotcha, Kajiya-guy!" Rayn laughed, lowering her body to the harpoon gun's hull, now wrapping her arms around it.

She yanked back, arms and legs wrapped around the hull, the entire harpoon gun flipping backward. The two poles on the mouth of the cannon were actually legs, letting it stand even when flipped. No the pole was facing away from Narucho. But that wasn't a good thing.

0.o Narucho's jaw dropped, nearly to the floor.

Because the harpoon gun wasn't _really_a harpoon gun. It was a massive crossbow, albeit it had a harpoon instead of a big arrow, the sharp point of the harpoon now pointing at Narucho. Rayn was now upside down, looking away from Narucho.

She reached out and ripped the 'Bang!' flag from the harpoon's back, and just touched the flat end. She released, dropping down on her back. She managed to swivel, so she was on her back, but here head was now facing Narucho. Rayn used all her arm strength to push at the front of the crossbow, lifting it about 30º from the ground.

_What the?.._Narucho wondered. _Now it's going to miss me.._

"See ya!" Rayn laughed, kicking the lever connected to the two 'fishing' reels.

The reels drew the wires in in a flash, launching the harpoon. Narucho watched it sail over his head, over the next building, and out of town.

"You missed me," Narucho said dimly, looking back at Rayn.

"Wasn't aimin' at ya," she grinned, her head craned so she was looking at him upside down.

Narucho glanced down when he felt a slight tug at his round stomach, and his eyes grew wide. Five blue strings were attached to his stomach, belt, and legs. He followed the stings, and his eyes grew wide when he realized they were attached to the flat end of the harpoon -- that's why Rayn tapped it.

Narucho felt a greater tug, and he was forced to turn around from the sheer strength of it. He glanced back at Rayn pitifully before he was launched, barely missing the building the harpoon launched over, and he was sent flying out of the village.

"Someone of his size won't go far, but..." Rayn crawled out from under the crossbow. "I should be okay... I need to hurry up and get the medicine."

She brushed herself off before jumping up on top of the crossbow. She launched up, landing on an adjacent building. She thought she saw another, taller man, in a brown coat like the one she had just dealt with. Rayn hurried off, sticking to the rooftops.

The tall man jumped up on one of the roofs, hurrying after her. Rayn grinded her teeth together and sprinted, jumping off the building, off a sign, landing on the street before taking off down the street.

_This isn't good!_

. . .

"Stupid caves, stupid snow..." Naruto muttered, poking at the chicken roasting on the spit Sasuke had brought. "When can we start looking again?"

"Once this snowstorm dies down a little," Sasuke replied, his legs crossed as batted Naruto's poking finger away. "Though, it worries me that we're getting so confused."

"Hmm..." Naruto looked outside, tasting the finger he has poked the chicken with. "I hope Sakura-chan's alright..."

"Just eat and go to sleep," Sasuke said flatly, taking out a small knife and slicing a leg off. He bit into it, glancing outside as well. _What's going on? Neither of us checked that cave, yet there was a kunai at the entrance... Could the enemy already be here?_

. . .

Author's Notes: Things are officially interesting! I hope. Review, you tell me.

Sakura and Riddin have to face nine Mist ninja, which means Yokoji will have to do some improvising. Rayn's on the run from Kyouku. Naruto and Sasuke are resting in a cave after being sabotaged by Yokoji.

Plus, you learn a bit about the Kajiya and Yoshimitsu!

Erm... That's it. Til next time!


	7. Chapter 7 Cave Clash

"So..." Riddin said loudly, his voice echoing in the cave. "You guys are here, eh? Heh-heh... Let's see what Water Country's ninja program has to offer."

"Yoshimitsu Riddin, surrender," one of the Mist ninja ordered. "We have no intention of killing you, but will use force to capture you if necessary."

"You honestly think you can take nine Mist Jounin?" another sneered. "You're a joke. What Mizukage-sama wants with you is a mystery."

Sakura couldn't help but lift up a little, squinting in the dark to see what was going on. It was really dark, but she could make out ten figures -- nine facing one, while that one just kept glancing around.

"No, I can't take on nine Mist Jounin," Riddin admitted. He pulled some cloth -- a bandana -- from his pocket and secured it over his forehead. "...But I can take on two Chuunin and one Jounin."

_What the hell is he talking about?_ Sakura wondered. _There are nine of them! He said so himself just a moment ago!_

One Mist ninja scoffed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You, you, you, you, you, and you," Riddin said, pointing to the six ninja in question. "Are all some kind of _Bunshin_, using a _Henge_ to look like someone else. What a lame scare tactic."

"How'd you figure it out?" one of them asked. Smoke surrounded the six ninja Riddin pointed at, removing the _Henge_, showing that they were indeed _Bunshin_ -- probably _Mizu Bunshin_.

"I recognize a _Henge_ anywhere," Riddin smirked. "And you would only use a _Henge_ if you looked exactly like the others -- _Bunshin_. I just guessed on the ranks from the killing intent coming off you three."

"Who was it you were talking to a moment ago?" the first Mist ninja asked. "Why did you shut off the lanterns?"

Riddin shrugged, "I have good vision in the dark, and I'd like any and all advantages I can get. I was talking to... myself."

_Idiot, _thought Sakura as she sweat-dropped.

"_Yosh_!" Riddin exclaimed suddenly, thrusting his hands into the air. "Enough talkin'! I'm pumped up, let's go!"

The Mist ninja glanced at each other before one of the clones launched itself at Riddin. Riddin dashed out of the way, showing surprising speed. He must know how to use Chakra to boost his reflexes, or he simply wasn't human.

Riddin dashed to the bathtub, grinning down at Sakura. "_Ne_," he whispered. "Do you have kunai in that backpack of yours?"

"Where the hell did he go?!" the Mist ninja exclaimed, unable to see Riddin or Sakura since they were so deep in the cave.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Kunai, shuriken, explosive tags, smoke bombs..."

"Smoke and explosives..." Riddin said thoughtfully, chewing down on his tongue in thought. "Smoke is a gas, I bet I could..."

Riddin blurred away, and she sat up and watched him quickly look through her bag. He pulled out a single kunai, one explosive tag, and one smoke bomb.

"This looks like it's remotely detonated," Riddin said thoughtfully, looking at the explosive tag. He wrapped the explosive tag around the handle of the kunai before pocketing it.

"Hope this works," he said thoughtfully before biting on his right index finger, apparently writing on the small gray smoke bomb, his fingertip glowed a light yellow from Chakra. Sakura wasn't sure what he was doing, but he appeared to have a plan. He then ran, normal speed, for the Mist ninja.

"Enough of this shit," the third Mist ninja growled, making hand seals. "_**Suiton: Suiryuudan**_!" (Water Release: Water Dragon Blast)

The six _Mizu Bunshin_ splashed into water, the water joining together, churning in a drilling fashion until it formed a dragon. Riddin tried to use his speed to avoid it, but the dragon just turned and then crashed into him, slamming him into the wall.

_Shit, it's cold..._ Riddin fell to the floor, shivering. He coughed up some water he had accidentally swallowed, hugging himself. _This isn't good... I'll freeze..._

The water pulled itself off of Riddin, and he stared as it formed a bubble in front of him. Riddin stared at it dumbly, wondering what it was supposed to do. Not exactly a smart thing to do.

- - -

_Dammit, dammit!_ Yokoji sprinted up the mountain, following the faint trail of footprints in the snow. _The Mist are already there! _

- - -

"!" Sakura recognized the Jutsu in and instant. _Shit, if he gets caught in that!..._ "Riddin, run! It's a trap!"

Riddin disappeared again, a bunch of dirt and rocks getting kicked up in the process. Tendrils of water shot from the sphere, slashing at Riddin as if trying to grab at him. He jumped out of the way, but the tendrils swirled together into another dragon.

While Riddin ran from the water dragon, the second Mist ninja ran deeper into the cave -- to look for whoever the kid was talking to.

"We can kill anyone other than the Yoshimitsu boy, right?" Mist-2 asked.

"Yeah," Mist-3 replied, still focusing on smashing Riddin with the water dragon.

Sakura tried to slowly inch her way into the tub, trying to stay invisible in the dark. Before she got too low, she saw the guy had a fairly large sword. Not 'Seven Mist Swordsmen' big, but certainly bigger than your average katana.

She tried to shrink her body, lying at the bottom of the tub. She heard Mist-2's approaching footsteps, the bloodlust growing thicker and thicker. Sakura thought she was scared earlier -- now she was borderline terrified. She felt like a little girl fresh from the academy again. If she could move, she wouldn't have been worried. But when all you can do is sit there, it's pretty scary.

And then his frame was looming over her. His face was hidden by a mix of bandages, a bandana, and his forehead protector, but she could see his outline and his eyes. His eyes widen, looking satisfied. He drew his katana, turning it with the blade down, grasping the hilt with both hands.

"Bye-bye," he said evilly, lifting the katana to get some momentum behind the stab.

_Fuh-whip!_ It was that weird sound of air whooshing from sheer speed.

Riddin was crouching on the lip of the tub. He grabbed Mist-2's hands with his left hand, Sakura could hear his knuckles crack from clenching at the Jounin's gloves. Mist-2 tried to plunge the sword down, but Riddin held him still. Sakura tried to get a look at Riddin's face, but his arm was in the way.

Riddin launched a punch with his right, socking the Jounin in the face. Riddin pushed off the tub, moving with the momentum of this hit.

Sakura lifted herself up in time to see Riddin sitting on Mist-2's stomach, and Riddin still had a grip on Mist-2's hands -- and in turn, the sword. A moment after impact onto the ground, there was a _crunch!_ of breaking bone, and the katana jerked its way into Mist-2's head.

Or, at least that's what she guessed happened, as Riddin's body was in the way. Sakura dropped back to the bottom of the tub, hugging herself. It all happened so fast, less than three seconds from when Riddin appeared. There was no way Mist-2 could have seen it coming.

Mist-3 growled, and made the water dragon go even faster, pummeling itself into Riddin. It lifted him off of Mist-2's corpse, over and beyond the tub, before crashing into the ground.

"Bastard!" Mist-1 yelled, dashing forward while bringing out a katana similar to his fallen comrade's.

_SO COLD!!_ thought Riddin as he sprang up, shivering heavily. He breaths came out in gasps, as if he was actually submerged in freezing water.

"Saku-ku-ku-ku-ra, stay low," Riddin said, his teeth chattering. He licked his right thumb, and then bit his right index finger, an aura of yellow surrounding the bitten fingertip. (Beta's Note: Notice how he seems to be laughing like Orochimaru-sama while 'stuttering'? LOL)

(Author's Note: I just read the Beta's Note. My Beta is a bit of a... _baka_, _un_? She seems to like Orochimaru even though she knows... never mind, no spoilers. LOLz at the ignorant people who must know snake-freak's fate now.

Also, type 'Japanese dictionary' into Google and click the first non-ad entry. Type 'ku' into Jap-to-Eng, and read third entry. So freaky...)

Riddin crouched down and found what he was looking for -- the _Henshin Wa_. (Transformation Circle) It was a circle written in blood, but it looked shiny, like ink. There was a smaller circle in the center of the first, with four 'raindrops' stemming from the smaller circle, the points of the 'raindrops' touching the larger circle. It almost looked like a compass, if that helps. In the center circle was the kanji for 'bathtub.'

Riddin used his wet thumb to wipe at the kanji, erasing it. Sakura was unable to see what he was doing, but she could see the result -- the rim of the bathtub was disintegrating. The points farthest from the _Henshin Wa_ were disintegrating, and the disintegration kept getting closer and closer to the _Henshin Wa_ -- though it was a slow process.

Riddin then wrote, in his Chakra-laced blood, the kanji for 'sword.' The entire _Henshin Wa_ glowed blood red before the disintegration process sped up dramatically, dropping Sakura onto the hard floor.

"Sorry bout that," Riddin murmured.

Sakura looked up at him to see he was poking a rock. However, the rock turned white before disintegrating, becoming a thin tube, Riddin poking the bottom of it. It looked a lot like the hilt of a katana, really -- it even became more rectangular, with a hand grip.

Riddin dashed at Mist-1, the blade of the katana materializing from the hilt. The transformation finished just before the two of them clashed, and sparks flew as the two blades struck each other.

"What, you also have sword training?" Mist-1 growled.

"Nah," Riddin said, redirecting Mist-1's blade so it missed him. Riddin dashed away, skidding to a stop several meters away. "I'm just hoping swinging this thing at high speeds will pay off."

_Fuh-whip, clang!_ Riddin had used more high speed to slash at Mist-1, but he easily blocked. Even with Riddin's speed, a little bit of skill could easily stop him. _Fuh-whip! Fuh-whip, clang!_

"Hit him hard!" Mist-1 yelled to Mist-3. Riddin glanced at Mist-3, which gave the katana-wielding Mist-1 an opening. Mist-1 slashed, but Riddin managed to kind of move, so it only slashed open his right bicep a little.

"Dammit," Riddin mumbled, grasping at the wound. He dropped the katana, jumping out of the way of yet another water dragon from Mist-3.

_I wish I could help..._ thought Sakura. _But my body is just too sore to move around much..._

Riddin swiped his left hand at Mist-1, throwing blood. Mist-1 exclaimed in surprise when the blood hit his eyes, blinding him. Riddin dashed forward, grabbing his katana from the ground.

Mist-1 ducked under a slash before hitting Riddin with the back of his blade. Riddin grunted, stumbling, and Mist-1 hit him with his free fist. Then, to make things worse, another water dragon smashed into Riddin, but Riddin managed to keep a hold on the katana.

_With that water... If Riddin gets closer to the mouth of the cave, he'll freeze_, thought Sakura._ I never really noticed how it was a few degrees hotter in this cave since I've been numb..._

"Alright, that's it..." Riddin panted, grinding his teeth together. He slowly picked himself up, shivering horribly. He slid the katana over to Sakura, and then pulled out the modified smoke bomb, looking between Mist-1 and Mist-3 with his eyes narrowed.

"Which one of you wanna go first?!" Riddin roared.

"Let's see what you got," Mist-1, the one with the katana, growled.

Riddin pulled out the kunai, transferring the smoke bomb to his left hand. He tossed it at Mist-1, and then hurled the kunai at the smoke bomb, the tag had yet to ignite -- so it looked like a normal kunai in the dark. Mist-1 simply ducked so he would dodge the kunai, unworried about the smoke bomb.

The smoke bomb hit the ground in front of Mist-1, letting out the smoke stored inside. But... the gases were invisible, or the bomb was defective. The kunai sailed above Mist-, since he ducked.

"You're pathetic," Mist-1 laughed, leaving the kunai where it was, just standing there.

Riddin made the Tiger hand seal before glancing at Sakura. She was a good distance away. Riddin himself was a fair distance away...

"Heh-heh, you really should pay attention to your surroundings..." Riddin grinned.

"?" The Mist ninja looked over his shoulder, and saw the wall of the cave only two feet behind him. The kunai had embedded itself into the wall, but only barely -- Riddin obviously wasn't trained in weapons.

Riddin quickly made the Snake hand seal, and yelled, "_**BAKU**_!" (Explode)

The explosive tag's seals pulsated from black to red, and Mist-1's eyes grew wide. A massive explosion, much too big for the explosive tag itself, engulfed Mist-1. Riddin closed one eye, dust and debris hitting him. Sakura covered her head, also getting pelted with small rocks. The smoke cleared, revealing the charred and still-burning body of Mist-1.

Riddin's confident aura faded, as he stumbled slightly, his head drooping. He stumbled over to Sakura before falling to his knees. He removed the cloth over his forehead and tied it over the wound on his bicep.

"Oh, damn," he said dizzily. "That _Katon_ from earlier... Combined with that... 'adrenaline rush'..."

"Yeah, thanks for that," she breathed. "But there's one more..."

"Too bad," he said softly, his eyes closing. He yawned -- the guy actually yawned. A second later, he was out cold, leaving an exhausted Sakura to deal with the last Mist ninja. Too bad she couldn't fight in her condition.

- - -

_What the hell was that explosion?_ Yokoji wondered, sprinting for the cave it seemed to have come from.

- - -

Mist-3 slowly approached the two of them. He seemed tired, no doubt because of all the _Suiton_ he had been doing. He made a few hand seals, and the water pulled itself from Riddin, his clothes, and the ground, and gathered itself into a sphere of water again.

He put his hand into the sphere, and swiveled it over to Riddin. Riddin was picked up inside the trap, just like Kakashi months ago when Momochi Zabuza used the same Jutsu. Riddin just floated in the ball of liquid, still unconscious.

Mist-3 looked down at Sakura, and just as he opened to mouth to say something, a steel blade was suddenly driven through him, sticking out of his chest.

The blade melted, falling to the ground and the dirt and rocks soaked it up -- Sakura saw the blade seemed to have extended from the mouth of the cave. Mist-3 stumbled around, and the ball of water bubbled before splashing down to the ground, freeing Riddin.

Mist-3 fell toward Sakura, but Sakura managed to get her foot in the air, stopping Mist-3 by putting her foot to his chest. She pushed, and Mist-3 fell back, landing on his back with a _thud_. Blood soaked the ground, Mist-3 choking on his own blood bubbling out of his mouth.

Sakura managed to push herself up, crawling over to Riddin. She checked his jacket pockets, and actually found what she was hoping to find -- gauze bandages. She pulled Riddin's right sleeve up to his shoulder, and wrapped the gauze around his wound -- it was too bad she didn't have some disinfectant, though. She made sure the bandages were tight before sitting up next to his sleeping form.

"Riddin, wake up," Sakura said, shaking his good arm. She gently slapped his face before pinching his nose.

He took a deep breath, his eyes and mouth opening wide. Sakura released his nose, and he calmed down after a few seconds. His eye twitched when he registered the pain in his right arm, and he grasped at the wrapped wound. He took a few breaths before looking over at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, noticing both of them were wet -- her from the bath, him from the pounding _Suiton_ and the water trap. He seemed unaffected by the bloodshed, or at least he didn't show it.

"Cold," she said simply, beginning to shiver -- she might have been shivering earlier, but what little adrenaline could run through her system made her ignore it.

"I'll make a fire, you're clothes are over there," he said, pointing to the pile of red clothes. He looked at the three corpses, looking a little disgusted. "I'll chuck these guys outside once I get some strength back."

"Right," Sakura nodded, managing to stand. "Is there a towel or something?"

"There's one over there," Riddin replied, struggling to stand. She hooked her arm through his and helped him up. "Thanks," he said, still breathing hard.

"Where do you think that blade came from?" Sakura asked, walking over to her clothes.

Riddin stared out at the cave. "...I know who it was, but it doesn't make sense..."

- - -

"Achoo!"

Yokoji rubbed his nose with his free hand, his right arm coated in a steel blade. The steel turned red, then white, and began dripping into the snow, melting it instantly. A few seconds later, the blade was gone, Yokoji's arm uninjured. He glanced behind him before making a hand seal.

Yokoji's left hand was in the Snake seal, which was basically just your hands clasped together, but turned so his thumb was the highest finger. His right hand was in Tiger, where you have your thumb, middle, and index fingers up with your pinkies and ring fingers interlocked. His right ring and pinky were between his left thumb and index finger, his right thumb poking his wrist.

A small piece of metal sprang up from some of the visible dirt. The snow in front of Yokoji melted, revealing a metal railing -- which was rising from the ground, growing longer and longer, going downhill. Yokoji was lifted slightly as buckles morphed onto his shoes. He slid the right buckle onto the rail, and then the left. He grinded down quickly, the metal behind him melting away.

In almost no time, he was at the base of the mountain. He slid off the rail, and began walking for town, the rail-buckles under his feet melting, sinking back into the earth. By the time he reached town, snowfall had covered up the evidence.

_Now... where is Uncle?_

- - -

"Achoo!" Kyouku sneezed loudly as he chased Rayn down the street.

Rayn reached out and grabbed a pole at the corner, turning quickly without having to slow down much. She quickly pulled smoke bombs out, tossing them at an alley before going down a different alley. Hopefully, the Kajiya guy would go after the smoke -- thinking Rayn would be over there.

_TUK-KOO!_ A massive metal wall shot up from the ground.

Rayn jumped, scrambling up the wall on all fours. A metal spear shot out of the wall, Rayn twisting her body so she wouldn't get impaled, and then she grabbed at the spear -- not the blade, mind you. She swung off the pole, flipping wildly until she landed on the rooftop, sprinting off.

"Leave me alone!" Rayn yelled, pulling out more smoke bombs. She threw them down, and in its cover, made a few hand seals.

The smoke cleared, revealing a dozen Rayns. They all sprinted off in different directions, and Kyouku was unable to tell _Bunshin_ from original.

"Damn, I should have learned some solid _Bunshin_ variation," Kyouku muttered, choosing one Rayn at random and hurrying after her.

- - -

"..." Yokoji watched Rayn sprint past him, and he blinked stupidly. Then he saw another down the street. _What... the?..._

- - -

Rayn, the real Rayn, hurried into the pharmacy. The pharmacist behind the counter looked at her in a bewildered way, especially after she used _Henge no Jutsu_ to transform into someone else.

"Quickly, I need medicine..." Rayn said, breathing hard. "Something to treat frostbite, hypothermia... Some disinfectant, bandages... Some poison antidotes... Bandages..."

The pharmacist hurried around, not bothering to say she said 'bandages' twice, grabbing what she was asking for. Rayn also grabbed a few things, piling it onto the counter. The pharmacist just jotted everything down on a piece of paper before stuffing everything into various bags.

"Thank you so much," Rayn said quickly, pulling out a scroll. The scroll had tons of strange etchings and symbols, all pointing to a large circle with the kanji for seal. Two hand outlines were on either side of the circle, the kanji for 'left' and 'right' on each respectively.

Rayn set one bag onto the circle, and placed her hands where the hands were on the scroll. Her hands glowed yellow for a moment, and a bright flash of light surrounded the scroll. The light disappeared, and the sack was sealed into the scroll -- a symbol appearing on the scroll to indicate it.

Rayn repeated this procedure with the other three bags before stuffing the scroll into her pocket. She nodded at the pharmacist before recomposing herself, calmly exiting the shop like she was the person she had Transformed into.

_I have to get back to Ani and the girl,_ she thought before walking for the mountain. (Ani means Older Brother)

- - -

"Where is the girl?" Yokoji asked of Kyouku, who looked pretty pissed off.

"I don't know, she eluded me!" Kyouku roared.

Yokoji decided not to mention that he had not even tried to stop the girl, let alone that he had seen two of her.

- - -

Author's Note: Whoo! Sakura's in somewhat-okay condition and Rayn is most likely hurrying up the mountain! The fate of Narucho, the fat Kajiya dude Rayn sent flying, is so far relatively unknown. See ya next time!


	8. Chapter 8 Fight or Flight?

Yang's Notes: For those of you who are caught up in the Naruto manga, you understand what happened with the Mist. Probably, hopefully. Maybe you'll understand after this chapter.

Anyway, I've been looking around the site, and I think the chapters are going to get longer by quite a bit -- otherwise there'll be tons of small chapters, and that big number of chapters may scare off newcomers.

- - -

"I can't wait," Naruto said, impatient. The two of them were in a cave, both sitting next to the fire Sasuke had made. "Can't we keep looking? Or at least let me keep looking?"

"No," Sasuke said flatly. "Get some sleep."

"I don't need sleep! I _can't_ sleep!" Naruto grabbed his goggles, hurrying for the cave entrance. "I'm gonna keep looking!"

Sasuke grabbed his own backpack, and then Naruto's. "Fine, just wait and take your backpack," Sasuke said, hurrying after the impatient blonde.

"_**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!" Naruto yelled. (Multiple Shadow Clone)

- - -

"...Did you hear something?" Riddin asked, glancing at Sakura -- who freaked since she was changing. Riddin didn't blush, did not widen his eyes, but turned away to give her some privacy. "Sorry, heh-heh, forgot."

Sakura muttered several curses toward the young man, her face bright red, before responding shaprly, "No, I didn't. What do you think you heard?"

"...A very loud kid screaming," Riddin said after a moment.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, dropping some of the clothes. "It's Naruto!"

"Is that good or bad?" Riddin asked, remembering not to turn around again.

"Good!" she smiled. "It's great! He's my friend, my teammate! He and Sasuke must be looking for me!"

"So they're good guys, eh?" Riddin asked conversationally.

"Yeah... Naruto's a bit of an idiot, but he's been known to surprise," Sakura replied, pulling on her jacket. "Sasuke is of the Uchiha clan, so of course he's a genius."

"Uchiha, huh?" Riddin said. "That name sounds familiar..." He obviously knew the story, Sakura didn't know why he was pretending not to. "...Something bad, right?"

"His, uh... his clan was eradicated by his older brother," Sakura replied softly.

Riddin nodded, and everything was silent, save for the wind. Sakura was seeing how well she could move around with some stretches, but she wasn't sure what Riddin was doing. He seemed to be writing into the dirt or something -- probably from boredom.

Sakura wished she had a mirror or something. She knew she was fairly mobile, what she wanted to know was the extent of her physical condition. "Riddin, how does my face look?"

He looked over his shoulder. He stared at her for a few seconds, his tongue in his cheek, and he seemed to be chewing on it. Sakura tapped her foot impatiently.

"Your face is still pretty red, and you have those bump-boil things still," he replied.

"I look hideous," Sakura whined. "I don't want the others to see me like this..."

"I can fix it," he offered, still drawing. "...Because I'm guessing you don't have the strength to use _Henge no Jutsu_ on your own, huh?" (Transformation)

"Yeah, I can't even make any Chakra right now," Sakura nodded.

"Okay, get over here," Riddin said, standing. "And as awkward as this will sound, you'll need to take off some clothes.

Sakura wandered over to see a map drawn in the dirt. It was a fairly good replica of your average map, though Riddin had only drawn Fire Country, Water Country, and the islands between and around them. Maybe it was just to give him something to do, or maybe he was trying to plan out their escape route.

"What clothes?" Sakura asked dryly, leaning up against the wall.

"Just enough to show a circle with a four-inch diameter," Riddin replied. "Preferably somewhere people don't generally see. And somewhere you won't scratch at."

"..." Sakura just stared at him. He smiled awkwardly, understanding her confusion.

"Just shrug the jacket off a bit, so I can see the top of your spine," he offered.

Sakura sat with her legs crossed, her back to him. She unzipped the jacket and shrugged it off slightly, and heard him approach. She felt him draw a diagram just below her neck, using part of the spine as a center.

It was pretty much the same as the one on the bathtub, but there were only three points to the 'star,' the tips an equal distance from each other (120º between each point). In the center of the circle was the kanji for '_Bi_,' or 'beauty.'

"What is it?" Sakura asked, wanting to know what he was planning on doing to her.

"I call it the '_Henshin Wa_,'" he explained. (Henshin means Transformation. Wa means Circle) "It's a type of seal, really. With it, I'm able to transform things other than myself by giving the _Henshin Wa _Chakra, basically injecting Chakra into the object.."

"So you can do it with people, too?" Sakura asked, glancing over her shoulder. "That's pretty impressive. Does it utilize the person's Chakra coils?"

"Nah, it just uses a 'tank' of Chakra I seal inside the _Henshin Wa_," Riddin replied. "You write a kanji describing what you want inside the 'star.' The more points the star has, the more powerful the transformation, and the more Chakra it uses. Three is the lowest, five is my current highest."

"Can you just start already?" Sakura asked impatiently. "I'm cold!"

"Oh. by-the-by," Riddin said conversationally. "This is the first time I've used it on a person."

"Whu-what?!"

"_**Henshin**_!" he stated with an evil grin, touching the center of the circle -- which happened to be a bump that was her spine. (Transform)

Sakura felt a warm sensation begin from Riddin's finger, and it slowly crawled across her skin, wrapping around her, going up and down. She actually blushed, and her breathing came in almost gasps. She actually had to bit on her lower lip as it passed her 'more sensitive areas.' It kept spreading, her face not only red, now it was hot from the change. For all of three seconds, her entire body was hot, and then the heat slowly subsided until she felt normal.

Riddin kept his finger on the seal, storing Chakra in it to keep it going for a while. He then walked away, giving her some time to herself.

"Well?" Sakura asked once she was recomposed, zipping her jacket back up. "How do I look?"

Riddin glanced at her, gave her a quick thumbs-up before walking deeper into the cave. She watched him go before hurrying over to the bucket, taking it to the entrance of the cave to get some snow to melt. She arranged the lit lanterns around the bucket, and it melted fairly quickly. She took a deep breath, and looked.

"Wow, you did pretty good!" Sakura called, taking off a glance so she could touch her face gingerly. It felt much smoother than it usually did, softer even -- but by looking at her hands, she saw she had roughly the same skin tone.

_I'm so sexy!! Shannaro!_

- - -

"Guys, look at this!" one Naruto _Kage Bunshin_ called.

A group of leaves were arranged in the snow above the mouth of one of the caves. Sasuke exited a nearby cave to see what all the fuss was about.

_That's not natural... Who put it there?_ Sasuke wondered. _And why?_

"Hey..." Naruto said, squinting up at the leaves. "It's a sign!"

"How so?" Sasuke asked. He wasn't seeing it, which pissed him off a little.

"It's an arrow _Konohakagure! _An arrow hidden in the leaves!" a _Kage Bunshin_ exclaimed. "It's like a code, for Leaf ninja!"

"For us!" Naruto concluded happily. "Sasuke, that's gotta be where Sakura-chan is!"

The _Kage Bunshin_ began disappearing, smoke surrounding the area -- making visibility zero for a few seconds, with both smoke and snow. The smoke cleared, and Naruto and Sasuke hurried into the cave.

They saw Sakura, standing next to a bucket. She was looking deeper into the cave, but then her head whipped around to look at them, smiling widely, her eyes bright. She was in the same red jacket and pants as before, but they looked as if they had been cleaned recently.

Sakura herself even looked cleaner than usual, and that was saying something. Her skin seemed to be... almost glowing. Whatever she was doing, it was working.

"Guys! You found me!" she exclaimed. She walked over, pulling on her glove, but her right leg was limping a little. She threw her arms out, hugging them both, though not very tightly. She giggled, "Now it's your turn to hide, and I'll seek!"

"Ha-ha," Sasuke said dryly. Sakura released them, and she could decipher minor concern in the Uchiha's eyes. "How bad off are you? I saw you limping."

"Oh, a few bumps and bruises, a couple cuts," Sakura shrugged. "Minor possibility of hypothermia, especially if I open the wounds... Though I did bash my right knee against some rocks when I crashed on my snowboard... But! I have good news."

"What?" Naruto asked, still smiling.

"I found Riddin," she replied brightly, jerking her thumb toward the darkness.

"Bullshit, I found you," Riddin said, pretending to be annoyed, entering the light. He rose a hand in greeting. "_Yo_, the name's... Well, I guess y'know that."

"Where's your sister?" Sasuke asked.

"By now, hopefully hurrying up the mountain," Riddin replied, lowering himself to the ground, sitting with his legs crossed, his hands on his knees. "So, now we wait."

- - -

It was cold. So cold that the water in the bucket, the bucket surrounded by super-hot lanterns mind you, had frozen solid. What was scary was that it was ten or twenty degrees warmer in the cave than it was outside. The wind was blowing louder than ever, so much that it actually echoed in the cave constantly.

Because it was so cold, Sasuke had made a fire with some spare wood Riddin had deeper in the cave. Team 7 was now huddled around the fire, staring into the flames in thought, trying to plan out their route back home. Riddin had wandered deeper into the cave, but they weren't sure why.

"Can't we just go the same way?" Naruto asked. "There was nothin' wrong with it on the way here."

"But now we have some unknown forces against us," Sasuke pointed out. "Remember, they mentioned some group trying to capture them, but they didn't know who it was?"

"Not really," Naruto admitted.

"I'm worried the Mist might send backup," Sakura said, deciding not to rip on Naruto for his idiocy. "...Where's Riddin? Let's just ask him."

"_Yo_, Riddin!" Naruto yelled. "Get out here, we got some stuff to ask you!"

"Yeah, yeah," Riddin called.

He entered the light holding a large bracelet with red circle designs, sliding it onto his right arm. It reached its limit a little past halfway up his forearm, and he twisted it a little so he'd be more comfortable. He sat down, completing the circle around the fire as he pulled his sleeve back down over his arm.

"Who's after you and your sister?" Sasuke asked bluntly.

"The Mist is after me, these three Kajiya dud es are after both of us, and..." Riddin closed his eyes, thinking. "Erm... The unknown group... They had black cloaks on, and there were two of them. That's all I know."

_Akatsuki,_ Naruto concluded mentally.

"And what do these people all want with you?" Sakura asked.

Riddin shrugged nonchalantly. "The Kajiya guys wanna kill us. The rest is a mystery."

"Why do they want to kill you?" Sasuke asked, cocking his head.

"Old clan war," Riddin replied. "Rayn and I are the only survivors, and these three nuts are determined to kill us."

"How powerful are they? How do they fight?" Sasuke asked. "It'd be useful to know their strategies now, instead of learning firsthand."

"They have a _Kekkei Genkai_," Riddin replied. "I'm not sure what it's called, or how it works exactly, but it involves the creation of metal."

"Metal?" Naruto asked. "Like kunai, or shuriken? So, couldn't it just be a weapon summoning?"

"No, though that's a logical approach," Riddin replied. "The stuff rises from the ground, sometimes twisting around to whatever they want."

"Can they control any metal?" Sakura asked. "Like if I threw a kunai at them, could they throw it back at me without even touching it?"

"No, only the metal they create," Riddin replied. "They also need to be able to see earth, within a certain distance, to make the metal. And once they make the metal, they seem to have an invisible connection to it. While they can only move one piece of metal at a time, they can switch from object to object. Though I think if they make multiples of the same thing, they can move them all with the same movement."

"Explain how they use the _Kekkei Genkai_," Sasuke said. "I understand the basics of what it can do, but what is their strategy?"

"They often create barriers and such when you try to dodge," Riddin replied. "Their attacks are fast, too. They're not above crushing you between several tons of hot metal, either."

"So, hey, I was wondering about that arm band thing," Naruto said, pointing at his arm.

"I use it as a weapon," Riddin replied proudly, pulling his sleeve back.

Naruto burst out laughing at that. Sakura covered her mouth and giggled for a few seconds, and Sasuke just rose an eyebrow.

Riddin furrowed his brow in annoyance, tapped one of the red designs on the arm band before thrusting his arm at Naruto. Naruto stopped laughing quite abruptly when a steel blade was hovering an inch from his eyes. Sasuke rose both eyebrows, and Sakura reached out and grabbed Riddin's arm, pulling it away from Naruto.

The blade dematerialized from the point, simply disappearing from existence. When the transmutation reached the arm band, it went from the steel gray it turned into, back to its golden color.

"Don't do that," Sakura scolded, slapping Riddin's arm. Curiosity overcame her anger, and she smiled slightly. "So, how's it work?"

Riddin showed her the arm band. Now that she could see it up close, she saw it had several level-four _Henshin Wa_ on them, and one of the kanji was 'sword.'

"What the hell is that?" Naruto demanded, squinting at the band.

"You explain it," Riddin said to Sakura, standing. "I'm gonna look outside."

"Naruto, you should try to cheer him up," Sakura suggested.

"Why me?" Naruto asked, though he stood.

"He kinda reminds me of you, I thought you could do something," Sakura shrugged.

Naruto hurried after Riddin, leaving Sakura to explain the _Henshin Wa_ to Sasuke, hoping to cheer Riddin up so Naruto could get back to the fire. Riddin was staring out at the blizzard, completely silent.

"You alright?" Naruto asked, coming to a stop a few feet behind Riddin. "You worried about your sis?"

"Nah, she's fine," Riddin said, not turning around. "I was actually hoping to talk to you in private."

"This is as private as we'll get for a while, so what's on your mind?" Naruto asked.

Riddin looked over his shoulder, a slight smile visible. "_Kyuubi no Yoko_?"

"Whu-what?" Naruto asked, furrowing his brow. "Watta you mean?"

"You know what I mean," Riddin chuckled, and pretended to trace three lines on his cheek. "You're the container for the Nine-Tailed Fox."

"..." Naruto just stared. How did this guy, who had only met Naruto less than an hour ago, know? When he had known Sakura and Sasuke for years, been on a team with them for almost a full year, and yet they were none the wiser... How did he know?

"I contain one myself," Riddin explained, chuckling. "Five-Tailed Wolf."

Naruto blinked dimly before snapping out of it. "Yeah, I have the Fox... How did you know?"

"I knew the Fox attacked Konoha, I know it was sealed inside _someone_, and I recognize the signs," Riddin grinned. "I mean, come on! Who has whiskers?"

"Who has a black nose?" Naruto grinned. "Hey, is that how you and your sister survived your clan war? Because you have a monster inside you?"

"Nail on the head," Riddin nodded.

"So, the group in black cloaks..." Naruto said slowly. "It was Akatsuki?"

"I honestly don't know, I guess so," Riddin replied with a shrug. "Black cloaks with red clouds... Uh... I kinda split when one of em threw a fuckin' giant scythe at me."

"What about the Mist ninja?" Naruto asked, cocking his head.

"I think they want the power of the _Gobi_ for themselves," Riddin shrugged. "But, uh... Listen, it might be easier if we keep Sakura and Uchiha in the dark about me being a host. Rayn knows, so if you need to talk or want sympathy, she's pretty good at it."

"You want to go look for Rayn?" Naruto suggested, Riddin mentioning his sister bringign the idea to mind. "I dunno anything about sisters, but if it was Sakura-chan out there, I'd definitely go looking. I _did_, actually."

"She can handle herself for a while," Riddin shrugged. Naruto did not miss the worry in his brown eyes, though. "Do you think you'd look for Uchiha?"

"...Yeah, I'd probably go looking for him," Naruto nodded. He laughed, "Though I'd probably let his dumb ass freeze a while for getting lost first."

- - -

"Mizukage-sama," Mist-5 murmured, getting down on his knee. He was staring at the semitransparent screen, the silhouette of the Mizukage visible. "The mission... We failed it, sir. Alpha squad apparently were killed when they faced the Yoshimitsu male, and my squad was killed by some boy using metal."

"How disappointing," the Mizukage said slowly. "However, I can't help but wonder how you got away..."

"The metal-user tried crushing us. I was apparently on a deep snow bank, while the others were crushed between metal and earth," Mist-5 replied. "I was still knocked out, but managed to come to before I froze."

Someone on the Mizukage's side of the screen walked in. They were wearing a large cloak and a wide, conical hat. The person leaned in and whispered in the Mizukage's ear for a few seconds.

"Right... Go ahead and see what you can do," the Mizukage nodded, though Mist-5 did not hear him. "Even if you were supposed to just take the _Gobi_ from the Mist to HQ, it seems you might want to take a more active role next time."

"Would it not be better to send someone else?" the figure asked. "Fighting in snow would not be a good idea for me."

"That's a good point," Mizukage nodded. "Instead, go back to HQ. I'll let you choose who to send. With the _Gobi_ and the _Kyuubi_ together..."

- - -

"_Ani_, wake up."

"Ugh... Five more minutes, _Imou_-" Riddin snapped to attention. He was sleeping a bit of a distance away from Team 7, and was hugging at his dark gray rucksack. "Rayn, you're alright!" he whispered, grinning in a relieved fashion.

"Course I am," she smiled. "So, hey, tell me about these guys."

Riddin pointed to each person when he said their name. "Haruno Sakura's a pleasant girl, though a tad impatient... Uchiha Sasuke is, well... Kinda reserved, to-the-point guy. And Uzumaki Naruto's the-" he dropped his voice to a whisper, "-_Kyuubi_ container. But don't say anything about it, the others don't know."

Rayn nodded, glancing at Naruto, and then to Sakura. "Should we wake up Sakura-chan to administer the medicine?"

"Alright, wake her up," Riddin nodded, yawning.

"Hey!" Rayn whispered, shaking the sleeping kunoichi gently. "Sakura-chan, Wake up!"

"What's going on?" Sakura mumbled. She stared at Rayn dumbly -- all she saw was someone in a black jacket with the hood up, black-tinted ski-goggles on. "?"

"Yoshimitsu Rayn," Rayn smiled, lifting the goggles and then lowering the hood.

"Haruno Sakura," Sakura replied, nodding at Rayn.

"I brought medicine for the frostbite," Rayn explained, showing Sakura the sealing scroll that was packed with supplies. "Let's go deeper into the cave, and I'll treat you."

"Are you a medic?" Sakura asked softly, getting up.

"I guess you could say that," Rayn shrugged. "I study a lot of medicine books and stuff, and by speeding the healing process of medicine with Chakra, I effectively know medical Ninjutsu."

"So that's why you had to go get medicine," Sakura nodded.

She glanced at her teammates, both of whom were sleeping soundly by the dwindling fire. Riddin stoked the fire a little before lying back down. He simply rose a hand at the girls before putting his hands behind his head, yawning and closing his eyes.

- - -

"That's it," Kyouku nodded, both him and Yokoji in their motel room. Kyouku was pacing around, thinking things through aloud.

Yokoji was lying on his bed, looking bored and fed up with his uncle again. He had watched the entire fight between the Yoshimitsu boy and the Mist ninja. It wasn't so much the kid's skill that surprised Yokoji, but what he had done.

He had used the demon inside him to protect the Leaf kunoichi, there was no doubt about it. His hair had stood on end, becoming spiky despite being in a ponytail. He had moved with such speed that it looked like there was more than just one of him. What was more, the punch to the face had already killed the Mist ninja, but Riddin had still had sank the katana into the ninja's temple.

That didn't sound like the selfish bastard Uncle Kyouku had described. Yokoji stared up at the ceiling before he realized Kyouku had stopped talking. What the hell had he been saying? Something about a plan...

"What do you think, Yokoji?" Kyouku asked suddenly.

"...Repeat the question," Yokoji said, smiling nervously.

"Do you think we should attack the cave the Leaf brats and the Yoshimitsu scum are hiding in?" Kyouku repeated impatiently. "This may be our last chance before they get off the island, and we lose them."

_What do I say?_ Yokoji wondered. _He had me convinced even when I doubted him in the alley, but then I saw the Yoshimitsu kid... Ah, hell, I guess I could just mess with Uncle if I decide to let the Yoshimitsu live._

"Alright, I'll lead the way," Yokoji said. "But we leave tomorrow morning. At night, the snow is insane. There's no way I'd be able to get to the right cave in these conditions."

- - -

Riddin and Rayn sat up, waking up at about the same time -- like they did almost every morning. The waved at each other sleepily, rubbing at their eyes with the other hand. Rayn glanced outside -- the snow had let up a bit.

"Heh, so much for being a blizzard for days," Riddin chuckled. Rayn stared at him strangely, confused. "Oh, to convince Sakura for some treatment, I told her it would snow really hard for days."

"You're so bad," Rayn smiled. "Lying to a nice girl like that."

"It was for a greater good," Riddin shrugged. "She wouldn't have taken the treatment otherwise." He glanced at Sakura, who was sleeping between the two boys -- they had more or less slept next to each other for warmth. "Crap... You healed her, she has her strength back... And from what Naruto's told me about her, I'm in for a bad beating."

Sakura yawned cutely, turning on her side. Her hand reached out and grasped at Naruto's jacket subconsciously.

"Cute," Rayn said with a smile.

"I can't get the image of orange and pink out of my head," Riddin said simply. "Man, can you imagine if they had kids? Sususu... Pink hair, bright _ao_ eyes, orange clothes... Not the stereotypical ninja." (Note: Sususu is a chuckle. There's also fufufu, kukuku, hihihi... '_Ao_' can mean blue or green, used since Naruto and Sakura have those eye colors, respectively.)

Sakura yawned again, turning on her other side. She put an arm over Sasuke, shifting her head from her pillow to his shoulder.

"Very cute," Rayn whispered, grinning.

"Pink-haired Uchiha," Riddin said thoughtfully. "That would cut down some clan pride."

The wall suddenly glowed red. Rayn's eyes snapped to it, and she stared at it, her eyes wide.

"_Ani_, we need to go. _Now_," she said, stressing the last word. "Someone's tripped the sensor seals I set up."

"Oh, crap," Riddin said, quickly standing. He made a few hand seals before placing his right index and middle fingers to the side of his throat. He took a deep breath, and it sounded like radio static. He then opened his mouth, emitting a loud siren. The three Leaf Genin shot up, looking around. Riddin shut his mouth and removed his fingers from his throat.

"Time to go!" Rayn exclaimed. "The enemy will be here in three minutes!"

- - -

"Whatever happened to Narucho?" Yokoji asked.

He and Kyouku were standing in a small cart, the cart attached to a rail which ran up the mountain -- of course, they hade made both. Kyouku thrust his hand uphill, and then the other, causing the cart to sail uphill.

"The Yoshimitsu girl killed him," Kyouku lied.

--Flashback--

After deciding he had truly lost the Yoshimitsu girl, Kyouku had decided to find out what happened to the dumb, fat-load that was Narucho. He had seen him flying out of the village, apparently attached to a harpoon.

Kyouku jumped over the fence that was the boundary of the town, and looked around. He saw Naruto frantically swimming for shore in the freezing waters. He used the harpoon, which he was still connected to via Chakra strings, to help himself get up onto the land. He shivered horribly, a fog emanating from his mouth.

"Kyouku-san," he breathed when he saw the man in question. "The girl... she got away, tricked me..."

"I've noticed," Kyouku said coldly. "How disappointing."

"Yeah..." Narucho agreed, hanging his head as he caught his breath. "But I'll get them next time, Kyouku-san, I swear it..."

"There is no 'next time,'" Kyouku said coldly, colder than the water Narucho had just escaped from.

"Don't tell me they got away," Narucho said, looking up at Kyouku to see he was making the hand seal for their Kekkei Genkai. Four thin slabs of metal shot around Narucho, forming a barrier of sorts. "What... what are you doing?" Narucho asked, confused.

"Disposing of a nuisance," Kyouku replied darkly, and more metal extended from the tops of the first four slabs, molding around Narucho, holding him still so he couldn't escape. Molten metal rose from the ground, burning at Narucho until it solidified when it completely filled up the box, some covering Narucho's mouth -- but not his nose.

"Good bye," Kyouku said simply, shifting the entire right side of his body back, even taking a step backwards. He took the step forward, thrusting his right hand forward, and the metal box holding Narucho launched itself forward, flying for a few seconds before hitting the water, sinking down.

--End of flashback--

"Bastards," Yokoji growled, gripping the sides of the cart.

- - -

"Fight or flight?" Sasuke asked, staring at Riddin and Rayn. "It's your lives, how much do you trust us?"

"..." The siblings glanced at each other. "Flight," they said in unison.

"What, you don't trust us?!" Naruto demanded.

"No, it's not that," Riddin assured with a wolfish grin. "These guys are strong, and I don't want you guys getting hurt. Let's move before they get here, we'll go around, down the back of the mountain and see what we can do from there."

"_You're_ worried about _us_?" Sasuke asked, making it sound ludicrous.

"What can we say?" Rayn shrugged, smiling. "We like you guys."

"I'll use _Kage Bunshin _and _Henge_," Naruto said. "Maybe they'll buy it, I can lead them away -- distance is no big deal for me, and I can give them plenty of Chakra to get a good distance away, even with _Henge_."

"You mentioned snowboards, didn't you?" Sasuke asked of Rayn. "Do you have any more?"

"One more," Rayn replied. "We'd have two, but I was in too much of a rush to look for mine in the snow last night."

"That's not a problem, I can transform some rocks into snowboards," Riddin assured. "Just get everything and get out!"

"You're the one with your shit everywhere!" Naruto roared. "All of our stuff is in our backpacks!"

Riddin swore loudly, and it echoed in the cave for several seconds. He rushed for his rucksack, which seemed to be the only thing he cared about. He hung it from his right shoulder, and pulled back his right sleeve to confirm his _Henshin Wa_ device was still on. Riddin undid his ponytail, and ran his Chakra-releasing fingers through his hair -- and it suddenly sprang into the five-pointed hair style that was in his picture, the rest of his hair poking back-down instead of hanging limply.

Rayn made sure she had the sealing scroll with the supplies in her backpack before rushing to get the snowboard hidden in a crevice near the cave's entrance. Riddin stared at his right palm, as if in thought.

"What are you doing?!" Naruto demanded. "We gotta go! Do that _Hanshi Kya_ thing and make us some snowboards!" (Naruto can't remember the real name)

"I can't create a bleeding wound, but..." Riddin mumbled, chewing on his tongue, meaning he was still in thought. "Wait, if it hasn't healed..." He rolled back his right sleeve, revealing the wound on his bicep -- which had been healed to an extent, and then wrapped in bandages. The bandana he has first used had already been washed in snow, and back in his rucksack. "One of you, give me a kunai."

Sasuke tossed him one, and Riddin caught it. He glanced up at Rayn, who seemed to know what her brother was thinking, and shrugged. Riddin shrugged, rose the kunai in his left hand, and cut through the bandages -- showing the scabbed wound. Riddin scratched at it, and some blood seeped out.

"Good enough, I hope," Riddin said thoughtfully, making a hand seal. "_**Henge**_!"

Smoke surrounded Riddin, and when it cleared, the wound on his bicep was gone. It had transferred to his right palm -- in the shape of a four-point _Henshin Wa_, the kanji for 'snowboard' in the circle. He quickly placed his palm to a good-sized rock, and his hand glowed yellow -- the rock turned black, and thinned out into a snowboard. It worked, he wouldn't have to individually write the _Henshin Wa_! He repeated the process until there was enough for everyone.

"Let's get the hell outta here," Riddin said, tossing a board to everyone -- Rayn taking the one they already had. "Naruto, do that _Kage Bunshin_ thing you were talking about."

"_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!" Naruto exclaimed. "_**Henge**_!"

The five altered _Kage Bunshin_ hurried out, and since Naruto had a snowboard when he performed the first Jutsu, the _Kage Bunshin_ all had snowboards. They jumped on and glided down, none of them noticing the railing raising from the ground. In a matter of seconds, they zipped by what looked like a mining cart.

"..."

"WAS THAT THEM?!" Kyouku roared.

"Yeah, that's them," Yokoji replied calmly, peering over the side of the cart.

The cart suddenly stopped, and Kyouku thrust his palms downhill, and the cart rocketed back down. The _Kage Bunshin _all glanced behind them, and their eyes grew wide.

"Scatter!" 'Sasuke' exclaimed. They all split up, boarding into the surrounding trees for cover.

"Just follow the scum," Kyouku muttered to himself, creating a new rail to follow 'Rayn.'

- - -

"That was easy," Sakura said, working her way through the snow. "Good thinking, Naruto!"

"Hihihi," Naruto grinned, chuckling. "Yeah, well..."

"Let's go down from here," Sasuke said from the front of the group. "The trees will provide good coverage. As long as we stay quiet, we should be okay."

"I hope my _Kage Bunshin _didn't go down there," Naruto said thoughtfully.

"Way to stay positive," Sakura commented dryly.

"Well, off we go," Riddin said brightly, dropping his snowboard and stepping on it. "Make sure not to step on the _Henshin Wa_, or it may destroy the Jutsu."

Everyone let their boards hit the snow, and a few seconds later, they were all boarding through the trees. Naruto and Sakura were still a little unsure on some of the maneuvers, but Sasuke seemed to be a natural. I say 'seemed' because he just used Sharingan on the Yoshimitsu siblings, and copied the moves.

There were suddenly two Rayns. Everyone stared at the two of them until Riddin pointed at one.

"Go somewhere else, man," he ordered, but not too loudly. "You're one of the _Kage Bunshin _they're after! Get outta here!"

"Right, sorry," 'Rayn' said, struggling to turn and board away.

_Please don't let them come, please don't let them-_ thought Sakura, biting down on her lower lip. However, she was cut short when -- guess why? -- a metal railing rose from the ground, melting the snow only a few feet in front of her.

She tried to turn, but yelped when something suddenly wrapped around her stomach. Sasuke had thrown a kunai attached to a wire, the end of the wire wrapped around his hand. Sasuke caught the kunai and pulled, yanking Sakura out of the way of the cart, barely avoiding getting rammed.

"Thanks," Sakura breathed, feeling a little out of breath. She unwrapped the wire from her, and Sasuke pulled it in, the two of them still boarding down.

The metal rail curved a little, and then made an upward arc, running up a tree before making a half-loop, so the Kajiya were upside down -- some bars bracing them and keeping them inside. Yokoji made the hand seal, and metal wall sprang up from some of the visible ground.

Naruto, Sakura, and Rayn split away, trying to go around the wall. Sasuke studied the metal for a moment -- it had a mix of Earth and Fire elements, which definitely made it a _Kekkei Genkai_. Sasuke made three hand seals, and his left hand was coated in electricity.

"_**Chidori**_!" Sasuke roared, jumping up, abandoning his snowboard, and he managed to grip the rail that held the cart. The electricity jumped down the rail, and Yokoji made the hand seal again, and the electricity simply stopped.

"What the hell?" Sasuke muttered.

"C'mon, you idiot!" Riddin yelled, jumping up with his snowboard and grabbing Sasuke before either Kajiya could meld Sasuke's hand onto the railing. He hit the snow, hurling Sasuke toward his snowboard. Sasuke flipped and landed on it, kicking off and sliding downhill quickly.

"Why didn't that work?!" Naruto called once they caught up.

"They may have made the metal a type of resistor!" Rayn called. "They're able to change the properties of the metal! Make it magnetic, a resistor or conductor, resistant to rust..."

"So Lightning is useless..." Sasuke said, thinking aloud. "Fire and Earth probably are, too -- since it's composed of those elements...Water wouldn't do anything... Nor would Wind... Though we don't know any Jutsu like that, anyway."

"So, basically, we're screwed?" Naruto asked, swerving around a tree.

Sasuke just nodded, deep in thought. He looked over at Riddin, who seemed fairly smart -- or, at the very least, observant.

"Do they have any weaknesses?" Sasuke asked. "There has to be a drawback or limit to every Jutsu, even _Kekkei Genkai_."

"The limit on how much they can control may be it," Sakura said doubtfully. "Look at it this way, they can only alter one piece of metal at a time, right? How long does it take to make a new object?"

"Well, you have to heat up a certain amount of rock," Riddin explained. "Once created, you can't change the shape or size without a lot of effort. So to make something big, when they're already using something small, they'd have to stop using the smaller object, and prepare to make the bigger one."

"But once the ground is 'heated up,' the metal is created incredibly quickly," Rayn continued. "So as long as they have time to heat up the ground, they can make a two-hundred meter wall in only a few seconds."

"So, as long as we can dodge the attacks they already made, we'll have a few seconds for an opening?" Sakura concluded. "I understand they can make it fast, but that cart isn't connected to the ground anymore. How fast are things like that?"

"The use is roughly the same speed as it would be in the real world," Riddin shrugged. "It's just the creation that's super-fast. Plus, the more mass something has, the more Chakra it requires to move, and the slower it moves."

"So that's the limits?" Sakura confirmed. "Each can only use one type of object at a time, it takes a few seconds to prepare the creation, and once detached it moves slower. Is there a certain distance that it can reach when created?"

"..." The siblings glanced at each other and shrugged. "Well, they need Chakra to make it, and need to be able to see rocks or dirt," Riddin said thoughtfully.

"They can also create something from the metal they create," Rayn said. "The older one made a metal wall, and then a spear came out of it. But I think they have to sacrifice some of the mass from the original metal."

"Because they're altering the metal they already made," Riddin nodded. "...As for your question about distance, I'm guessing it takes more Chakra to make it from farther away. So, it just depends on the Chakra amount and control of the user."

"So, basically, we have no idea," Naruto said loudly, jumping over a rock.

"That about sums it up," Sasuke replied flatly. "Speed is most important against these guys..."

"Which is why I'm so fast," Riddin said proudly. "I could easily outrun any of you."

"I don't know, Sasuke-kun is pretty fast," Sakura said with a smile, and Sasuke nodded smugly. "He can deflect dozens of kunai with ease."

"...Okay, I can't do that," Riddin admitted. "I can't deflect _one_."

"So you're fast, but not skilled," Sasuke summed up. "And you only killed those Mist ninja last night because they underestimated you, and you got lucky."

"..." Riddin closed his right eye and chewed on his tongue, rubbing the back of his head -- his thinking face. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Here they come again!" Rayn warned when she saw the cart rolling downhill again, though it was several feet up in the air, the rail track rising from the ground quickly. Braces were also holding up the rail, as it had melted farther back.

"This isn't gonna work!" Naruto yelled impatiently, crouching as much as he could to get as much speed as possible. "They're just gonna keep following us!"

Riddin bit his right index and then licked his right thumb. He wiped the 'snowboard' kanji -- the snowboard began to dematerialized, turning back to its rocky brown-gray -- and wrote 'bomb' in its stead. It quickly denaturalized into the rock, leaving Riddin skidding to a stop in the snow, Sasuke also stopping, with the others going ahead. The rock then morphed into a brown ball, the 'bomb' kanji visible in red.

"Uchiha!" Riddin called, throwing the bomb up in the air -- Sasuke must have seen it coming, because he had already gotten off his snowboard and was in midair. Sasuke grabbed the bomb and landed on a tree's snowy branch. Snow flew around as he kicked off, flipping and landing sideways on a nearby tree. He jumped again, just over where the cart was, and he simply dropped the bomb into the cart.

"Dammit!" Yokoji exclaimed, trying to get the bomb out of the cart, but it wouldn't budge -- it somehow had an adhesive or magnetic property. Kyouku hadn't noticed, he was too busy moving the cart forward. Yokoji grabbed his uncle and used all his strength to hurl him out of the cart before jumping out himself.

_Boom!_

The cart rattled for a moment before slowing to a stop, and the rail dropped -- Yokoji had cut his connection with the rail, and the cart had been too damaged and severed the link itself.

"Gotta get back to the others," Riddin muttered, diverting more Chakra to his legs and taking off down the mountain. Sasuke got back on his snowboard and followed after him.

"About time you two caught up!" Rayn laughed. "Did you slow them down?"

"We stopped the cart, but they can just make another," Riddin said, just running beside them all. "Unfortunately, I don't have enough Chakra for another bomb. When they get here, they'll be ready for us a bit more, and one of you guys will have to do something."

"So, what about right now?" Rayn questioned. "Do we just keep running?"

"Right now, that sounds good," Riddin said, who was the only one actually running.

"Why are we snowboarding if we could just get there faster on foot?" Naruto asked, knowing he could outrun how fast they were currently going.

"Saving Chakra and stamina," Sasuke replied. "This may be slower, but we'll be ready for a fight later."

- - -

"Damn them!" Kyouku yelled. "Yoshimitsu scum!"

_God, he's like a broken record,_ thought Yokoji. _Great... Well, might as well make another rail -- maybe we can just grind down it this time._

- - -

"How high up were we?!" Naruto yelled. They seemed to be so high up still, and they had been boarding for almost fifteen minutes.

"Near the top!" Riddin roared back. "Just keep going, we'll arrive in a few minutes!"

The snow began melting, as a rail grew from the ground. Everyone watched it as it flew past them before turning, creating a canal of sorts that was perpendicular to them. Several seconds passed, and nothing happened.

"Wha-?" Sakura began, when a massive metal wall rose from the ground. It rose up dozens, maybe a few hundred, meters high. It was so long that they couldn't see where it ended. It was too high to climb without them catching up, and it was too long to go around.

"This thing has to have a weakness!" Sasuke called, activating his Sharingan to see if there was anywhere that had less Chakra, so it would be weaker. There was no such weak point. They all slid to a stop, looking up -- maybe they could climb it if they were fast enough.

"Move aside," Riddin said from the back of the group, making a hand seal. "_**Henge**_!" Smoke surrounded him, but nothing seemed different when it cleared. However, he had changed the _Henshin Wa _on his palm -- it now had five points, and had the kanji for 'door.'

He pressed him palm to the metal wall, and his hand was surrounded by yellow -- he was using all his remaining Chakra. Everyone shielded their eyes -- the Chakra was bright, especially when the snow reflected it everywhere.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder to see the Kajiya were catching up, sliding down the rail. They'd be on them in seconds. If this didn't work, it would come down to a fight. A Chakra-less client, a client who wasn't suited for combat, and three Genin. Against two Kajiya men, who's Jutsu had no apparent weakness. And all they wanted was to kill the two who couldn't fight. Not good. Riddin and Rayn's lives, and maybe even Team 7's lives, were down to Riddin being able to make a door.

"_**Henshin**_!" Riddin yelled.


	9. Chapter 9 Break Away

Disclaimer: Psst! I've got a secret! I don't own _NARUTO_! Wait, that's no secret!

- - -

Black began to extend from under Riddin's palm, or more accurately the _Henshin Wa_. (Transformation Circle) The process was slow, like always. Riddin grinded his teeth together, trying to get it to go faster.

"Dammit, c'mon..." Naruto muttered, looking over at the approaching enemy.

Creases were now visible, the transformation working its way deeper into the metal. A small bar appeared on the right side of the door -- it was a sliding door, apparently. Riddin removed his palm from the wall and grabbed the bar, and tugged. It was heavy, but it slowly slid away.

"Thank God," Sakura sighed.

Riddin grinned proudly, and they noticed the wound on his palm in the shape of a _Henshin Wa_ -- which was there because of a _Henge_, disappeared, while the real wound on his bicep reappeared. Riddin took a step forward through the door- _Crunch!_

"ARGH!" Riddin screamed in pain. The door had smashed shut for some reason, crushing Riddin's left ankle. He frantically grabbed at his leg, trying to tug it out before it was actually crushed beyond repair -- or amputated. The others grabbed him, pulling as hard as they could.

"Damn, what happened?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"The door is still made of their metal!" Sasuke growled, tugging at Riddin. "They just slammed it shut. They don't seem to be able to destroy the _Henshin Wa_, though -- so they'd only be able to keep it forcibly shut."

They finally managed to pull Riddin out, and he grit his teeth and grabbed at his ankle -- which was bleeding. Riddin was hyperventilating from the pain -- he might have been alright normally, but with so little stamina left, he might fall unconscious.

Sasuke quickly made a few hand seals. "_**Katon**_..." He inhaled deeply, his right hand in front of his mouth. _**Goukakyuu no Jutsu**__!_ he finished mentally. (Fire Release: Grand Fire Ball)

A massive fireball shot from Sasuke's mouth, engulfing the enemy. A moment later, a red-hot metal ball the size of a large boulder shot out of the fire. The Genin managed to get out of the way, dragging Riddin and Rayn along with them.

_If the older one is connected to the ball, and no doubt the wall -- because it seems the younger one made the rail..._ thought Sasuke. _The door is 'unlocked'!_

The ball crashed into the wall, and the ball seemed to open up, revealing the two Kajiya men. They stepped out, Yokoji looking a little green.

The others seemed to have that same thought process, as they all dashed for the door while the enemy recovered. Sasuke ripped the door open before tossing Riddin through, making sure everyone else was through before going through himself -- the door slamming shut right behind him.

"Jeez, I hate that move," Yokoji groaned. "Though, that was some good reflexes, Uncle."

"Whew, nice," Riddin said, though he was still in pain. "That takes some fast reflexes to know to go through while the link is elsewhere."

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked concernedly, crouching next to Riddin. He bit down on his lower lip, accepting her help in standing, though he kept his left foot off the ground. He gently set it down, evening out his weight, but quickly lifted it.

"I dunno," he said weakly. "I might be able to walk..."

He took a tentative step forward and grimaced, and took another step; His left leg limped horribly. He would take a step with his left, only to lean right and frantically take a step forward with his right.

"Come on, I'll help you walk," Sakura offered, getting on his left. She grabbed his arm and draped it around her shoulder, which was a bit awkward because he was so much taller than her.

"I'm fine," he said gruffly, though he was blushing a little, removing his arm from her shoulders and taking several painful steps forward.

"Acting macho won't get you anywhere," Sakura said bluntly. Naruto nodded and Sasuke just looked at Riddin like he was stupid, while Rayn was just concerned. "The guys are better fighters, and your sister can't be slowed down. I usually stick around the clients, anyway."

"You're too short, or I'm too tall," he retorted, limping forward. "If you let me lean on you, we'd just go slower because of the height difference." The others walked after him, catching up quite quickly.

"Then I'll carry you," Sakura said. "You look like you're light."

"_Ani_, let's just go," Rayn implored.

Riddin sighed audibly, and looked up at the sky. "Fine."

Sakura rushed forward and picked him up bridal-style, as if Riddin wasn't embarrassed enough. He exclaimed in surprise, complaining he wanted to be set down, but Sakura just jumped up into the trees, since she could go faster if she wasn't running through snow.

Rayn copied Sakura's actions, jumping up to go from branch to branch, though the jumps were much shorter. Naruto and Sasuke decided to stay behind, to let the others get a good distance away first.

"...So we just use fast attacks," Naruto said. "Can't you predict stuff with Sharingan?"

"To an extent," Sasuke replied, preparing for a fight. "If I wait for an opening, I can strike with Chidori."

"You get one of them with Chidori, I'll get the other with Rasengan!" Naruto grinned. "Your Jutsu may have been more effective on that water tank, but I bet mine will do great against a person!"

_That's right, he didn't see the back of his water tank..._ Sasuke thought. However, he did not bother to inform Naruto of this.

Some of the wall melted away, revealing the two Kajiya men. Yokoji quickly created a rail, and then they made more buckles on their shoes to slide down the rail on.

"Alright, you bastards!" Naruto exclaimed, clenching his fists. "Let's-" The two of them barreled past the Genin, not paying the slightest bit of attention. "-go?" Naruto finished dumbly, watching them go by. He then yelled at them, his teeth comically sharp and his eyes wide and white. "OI! Bastards! I'm talking to you!"

"They don't care," Sasuke said flatly, jumping up to a branch to follow. "Come on, you idiot."

- - -

"Okay, okay," Riddin said, squirming. "Enough of this!"

Sakura stopped on a wider branch and set him down -- he might have been light, but it was still hard to jump from tree to tree with an extra 110 pounds. Sakura took a few deep breaths, and Rayn caught up a few seconds later.

"I bet I could jump from branch to branch," Riddin said, getting down on all fours -- well, three, making sure to keep all weight off his left foot. "Chakra to my arms and leg..."

He launched himself to the closest branch, landing on his right foot, and then dropping down his hands and left knee to even out the landing. He then lifted his left knee, and then jumped again.

"He's so stubborn," Sakura muttered.

"That's my _Ani_ for you!" Rayn said brightly. "He's used to doing things on his own, so don't take it personal."

"But... I thought he didn't have any Chakra left," Sakura said thoughtfully. "There's no way he can jump that far normally, especially in that condition."

"...I'll explain it some other time," Rayn said, jumping forward.

"Hurry it up!" Riddin called from several trees ahead. A white aura -- invisible against the snowy background and his white clothes -- surrounded his limbs before he took off for another jump. _If I keep using the white Chakra, I'm either going to use too much or lose consciousness..._

- - -

"How are we going to get their attention?" Sasuke asked calmly, thinking aloud as the two of them continued following the Kajiya. "They're just going to keep blasting past us unless we do something."

"We could just attack them," Naruto suggested. "If we hit or wound them, they'll probably stop to deal with us."

"If you can get them to somehow stop for a few seconds, I could hit them with Chidori from behind," Sasuke said. "Even you can do that, right?"

"You're damn right I can!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'll use _Kage Bunshin_... Maybe some explosives, or a Rasengan!"

"Alright, then go on ahead," Sasuke said. "When I see an opening, I'm taking it. Don't use explosives, though."

"You afraid you'll run right into a bomb?" Naruto laughed.

"No, I simply know you can't resist throwing an explosive at me, and being able to call it a 'misfire.'" Sasuke smirked.

"Hihihi," Naruto chuckled, grinning. "Good point! _Yosh_! I'm off!"

- - -

"Toss me the kunai already!" Naruto-2 called to Naruto-3.

Naruto-3 hurled the kunai, which was attached to a very thin wire, after making sure the wire was secured around the closest tree. Naruto-2 secured the other end, keeping the kunai attached.

"With this, they'll trip!" Naruto-1 (the original) grinned. "And we can use the _Rendan_!" (Combo)

Yokoji was the one in front. He quickly grinded down the rail, and hit the wire. Because he was essentially attached to the rail, he did not go flying forward like Naruto was hoping -- but it actually paid off for Naruto, as Kyouku rammed into Yokoji.

"What the hell?!" Kyouku demanded, managing to back up a little.

"**U-Zu-Ma-Ki**!" the individual _Kage Bunshin_ each exclaimed, jumping out and kicking into Yokoji's stomach and chest, and Kyouku's upper and lower back -- which only pushed Kyouku back into Yokoji. "**Naruto **_**Rendan**_!" the real Naruto yelled, after he jumped from a tree, slamming his heel into Yokoji's head.

"What the-?" Naruto mumbled -- his heel hurt, as if he had just slammed it into something hard. He looked down to see that the two of them had encased themselves in metal where they would be hit -- just a mere second before Naruto and his _Kage Bunshin_ had made impact. Yokoji had morphed the rail a little, protecting them.

Sasuke launched forward, but his _Chidori_ was not active. Yokoji's right arm was encased in a metal blade, and he brought it back to slash at Naruto. Sasuke just wanted to get Naruto out of the way. Sasuke dove, tackling Naruto out of the way, barely avoiding getting injured himself.

"Idiot, I don't need your help!" Naruto yelled when they hit the snow.

"You would have been cleaved in two, _Dobe_," Sasuke growled. He made three hand seals, and then offered Naruto his right hand, his left hand extended away from the two of them, Chidori coating it.

"What?" Naruto demanded.

"Grab my hand, and throw me," Sasuke ordered, activating his Sharingan.

Naruto nodded and grabbed Sasuke's right hand and wrist, and slowly began to spin. He got more momentum going, Sasuke running to increase the speed.

"Now!" Sasuke barked, and Naruto threw the Uchiha as hard as he could. Sasuke drew his left hand back, electricity still flying from it, as he flew toward the two Kajiya. "**Chidori**!"

Yokoji willed some metal to coat his right hand like a glove, and he actually caught Sasuke's hand, unaffected by the Lightning attack. Yokoji slowly began crushing Sasuke's hand, and the Chidori quickly ended -- but Yokoji continued crushing Sasuke's hand.

"**Rasengan**!" Naruto yelled, thrusting his right hand at Yokoji's stomach -- so Sasuke would not get caught up in the blast. And since Yokoji was moving the metal glove, he couldn't make a shield.

However, Kyouku was not limited, and made a shield for his nephew. Naruto's yellow orb struck the metal, grinding in to it -- but nothing happened to the metal.

"Eat this, bastard!" a Naruto _Kage Bunshin_ exclaimed -- he had been hidden behind a tree, in case something went wrong. He thrust a kick for the back of Kyouku's head, and Kyouku shifted from the shield protecting Yokoji to making a shield of his own, blocking the _Kage Bunshin_'s attack.

Naruto yelled and thrust his hand all the way, suddenly denting the shield, and it was like he effectively punched Yokoji since the shield was so close to his stomach, and Yokoji released Sasuke on accident, and the Uchiha got a good distance away, staring at his broken hand. Naruto's Rasengan peaked, and he let it all loose in a spinning frenzy. Yokoji, and even Kyouku, yelled in surprise and pain before being sent rocketing uphill, still connected to the rail.

"Oh, yeah!" Naruto exclaimed triumphantly. "That's right! Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage, wins again!"

"But- argh- how?" Sasuke asked, wincing, and he deactivated Sharingan. "Why did your attack get through all of a sudden?"

"I dunno," Naruto admitted. "Right after my _Kage Bunshin_ attacked, it just seemed so easy. It went from hitting an invincible wall to hitting metal like the water tank."

_If that's true, then those guys are the back of the tank,_ Sasuke thought. _They probably won't bother us for a while, with injuries like that._

"Your hand alright?" Naruto asked, walking over. "Oh, man... Maybe we should see a doctor or something. With your hand and Riddin's ankle crushed like that..."

"I'll be fine," Sasuke said dismissively.

"But now you can't do Chidori... Hell, you can't even make hand seals anymore!" Naruto pointed out. "That means all you have is some half-assed Taijutsu!"

"Nothing I do is 'half-assed,' you moron," Sasuke retorted. "Now let's go before we lose what time that fight bought us."

- - -

Sakura, Riddin, and Rayn and found temporary shelter in a café near the exit of town -- so they would easily see the others when they got off the mountain and entered town. The owner somewhat knew the siblings, and let them rest without needing to buy anything.

Rayn was staring out the window patiently. Riddin was sitting in a chair while, biting down on his lip in pain. He couldn't put his bad foot on the floor, he couldn't prop it up on his other leg, so he just had to try to keep it in midair for as long as possible.

"Here," Sakura said, moving a smaller chair in front of Riddin, to use as a footrest.

"Thank you," Riddin said sincerely, grabbing his leg and gently setting it on the chair -- so his foot was hanging just over the edge. He gently took his shoe off, and grimaced -- it looked bad.

"I have some questions," Sakura said, sitting next to him. "First off, why were you so embarrassed to accept help, when you _hired_ us to _help_? Also, why were you able to jump from branch to branch when you said you had no Chakra?"

"..." Riddin stared at her thoughtfully, which meant he was chewing on his tongue. "I just didn't want to be a burden. I essentially hired ninja to help fight them, as I can kinda-sorta fight myself. As for the second question..."

Riddin lifted his right hand, showing Sakura his palm. She made a confused face, and noticed he seemed to be focusing on something. He took a shallow breath, and when he exhaled, a white aura surrounded his hand. It only was there for a small instant, just like when he was jumping from tree to tree.

"!" _That's not normal Chakra!_ thought Sakura.

"I have a second, much more powerful, Chakra -- though it's dangerous to use," Riddin explained, though he did not reveal why or where it came from. "I usually get so tired after using it that I fall asleep, but the pain is keeping me awake. If I use too much..." He furrowed his brow. "...I'm not myself.

_A more powerful Chakra..._ thought Sakura. _It reminds me of Sasuke-kun's Cursed Seal. Especially the change in personality... He seemed so different when he used it in the forest..._

"Riddin, do you know someone named Orochimaru?" Sakura asked tentatively.

"Umm... No, I don't," he replied after a moment. "...Why?"

"Oh... Well, this Leaf traitor, Orochimaru... He does human experiments, and he makes this seal that's something like you described," Sakura said. _Do I tell him why I know?_

"Huh," Riddin said thoughtfully. "Well, it's not quite like that."

"Sakura-chan," Rayn said, looking over her shoulder. "You talk of it, the seal I mean, like you're trying not to give too much away."

"You don't have one, do you?" Riddin asked, closing his right eye thoughtfully.

"N-no, it's not me, it's..." she just trailed off.

"Uchiha?" Riddin said in unison with Rayn, though she said, "Sasuke-kun."

"H-how did you know it was him?" Sakura asked. "It could have been Naruto, or someone else I know..."

They glanced at each other and shrugged. They couldn't say they figured it wasn't Naruto due to them knowing he was a Jinchuuriki.

"Lucky guess?" they said in unison.

- - -

"Alright, I can see town!" Naruto yelled. "C'mon, Sasuke! I can see town!"

"I heard you the first time," Sasuke said, hurrying forward. "I don't see them anywhere... They could have gone to the docks to secure a boat..."

They entered town for all of thirty seconds when they heard, "Sasuke-kun! Naruto-kun! We're over here!" They turned to see Rayn waving from the door of a café. They jogged over, entering.

"You guys are okay!" Sakura exclaimed happily. She hurried over, and that's when she saw Sasuke's left hand. "Sasuke-kun, what happened? Your hand..."

"I'm fine," he said dismissively, hiding the pain from showing up in his voice or on his face.

"You two are so stubborn," Sakura sighed, shaking her head.

"?" Sasuke rose an eyebrow. "Two?"

Sakura jerked her thumb at Riddin, who waved, unable to hear what they were saying. Sasuke's mouth became a thin line before looking back at Sakura.

"We should move out," Sasuke said. "Naruto bought us some time, we should take full advantage of it."

"You're right, we should get a doctor to look at you and Riddin," Sakura insisted. "If we have time, we should. And we have time."

Sasuke glanced at the others -- Naruto and Rayn had went to sit down next to Riddin, and they were all out of earshot if he was quiet.

"Sakura, I appreciate the concern," Sasuke whispered. Sakura rose her eyebrows -- he had been a bit nicer to her ever since she convinced him to stay, if only a little. "But we need to leave."

Sakura turned around to look at Rayn and Riddin for a few seconds. Riddin seemed to be fairly cheerful despite the injury, and Rayn seemed alright as long as her brother was.

"Okay, fine," Sakura sighed. "Have it your way. We get off the island first -- but can we at least go to that trading post island? There were some doctors there, and Naruto wanted to go."

"..." _So did you, Sakura..._ Sasuke stared at his ruined left hand. "Okay, I guess. But we head south to start with, so the enemy thinks we're actually heading that way. I trust we can go a few kilometers out, and then you can find out which way to go?"

"Of course," Sakura smiled. "It'll be a piece of cake."

"Then we'll do that," Sasuke said, nodding. "Two of us should go find a boat. Who should be the one to stay with them here?"

"Rayn and Riddin?" Sakura glanced back at them. "I guess I wouldn't mind. But maybe Naruto should stay, since he's now the strongest fighter."

"What's this 'now' crap?" Naruto laughed. "I've _been_ the best! But, I'll stick around here! After all, I'm the only one that can beat those guys!"

"Alright, let's go, Sasuke-kun," Sakura smiled, locking her right elbow through his left -- so he couldn't get away.

"Rough," Riddin observed, grinning. "Sususu... Poor Uchiha."

"So how did you beat the Kajiya guys?" Rayn asked. "We've been trying for years, and you do it on your first try..."

"I used this super-awesome Jutsu, called the Rasengan!" Naruto grinned. "It totally ripped through the metal like a hot knife through butter!" So he was exaggerating a little, so what?

Riddin was clearly impressed, and almost as loud as Naruto. "A spiral, huh? I guess I've never tried a move like that. What's it like?" (Since '_Rasen gan_' is 'spiral(ing) sphere.')

"I gather a bunch of Chakra into my right hand, and spin it around," Naruto explained. "I use a _Kage Bunshin_ to help refine it, and give it a 'shell.' It's really awesome!"

"Duh, it beat the Kajiya's Jutsu," Rayn laughing.

"So, is your foot gonna be alright?" Naruto asked, looking down at it -- it had small, but clearly visible, indents were the door hit it, though it had stopped bleeding.

"...It's not going to fall off, so yeah," Riddin shrugged.

"...So, uh... how'd you find Sakura-chan? Neither of you gave us much detail, just that you brought her deeper into the cave," Naruto said.

"Well, she was yelling and stuff, calling for you two I think... And then she suddenly stopped, and I didn't hear her leave," Riddin replied. "Rayn got worried and I went to check. I told her Sakura's condition and Rayn took off for town."

"Huh... How come you didn't just turn a rock into medicine or something?" Naruto asked.

"I tried doing that when I was seven," Riddin replied. "I was a bit of a goof, I didn't fully understand the Jutsu... even though I created it. Point is, I had to go to the emergency room because my cough medicine reverted back to pebbles in my blood. Thank _God_ I didn't use a rock or something..."

"Oh, right, cuz it'll eventually run outta Chakra..." Naruto nodded. "Did you talk to Sakura-chan or something? She..." he scrunched up his face. "...She seems to like you a lot."

"Hm? Didn't notice," Riddin shrugged. "Might have something to do with my charms, my good looks, saving her life twice, and treating her..."

"I didn't think about it that way, you did save her life..." Naruto said thoughtfully. "Charms and good looks is a bit of a stretch..."

"Nya-nya-nya," Riddin said in a mocking voice, annoyed. "Anyway, why?"

"Eh, it took a while for her to like me," Naruto admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "She actually hated me when we first became a squad."

"..." The Yoshimitsu glanced at each other. "No way!" they exclaimed in dismay.

"Seriously!" Naruto said, nodding. "She treated me like I was infected with the plague or something!"

"Huh... _Ne_, you ever heard of the term '_aizou_'?" Riddin asked, thinking back to how Sakura had talked of Naruto when they were alone.

"Purple elephant?" Naruto repeated, scrunching up his face. "What the hell? Love picture?" (_Ai_ - Love or Indigo/Purple, _Zou_ - Elephant or Picture, depending on the kanji. So, in Japanese, Naruto just said, "_Ai zou_? _Ai zou_?")

"No, man," Riddin laughed. "Not '_ai zou_,' two words, '_aizou_.' One word."

"No, I've never heard of that," Naruto said, shaking his head.

"_Ani_, it's only a Lightning Country term," Rayn interjected. "Naruto-kun would recognize the kanji, but would say it a different way."

"How would he say it?" Riddin asked, furrowing his brow.

"That wouldn't make it quite as fun for Naruto-kun, would it?" Rayn asked with a playful smile.

Riddin laughed loudly. "Good point, _Imouto_! Naruto, you'll just have to find out yourself!" (Imouto - Little Sister)

"Well, what were you going to say?" Naruto asked. _Which kanji is read differently? That means 'ai' might not mean what it does for us..._

"That's how Sakura feels for you, I think," Riddin explained, grinning widely. "_Aizou_."

"Which kanji is said different?" Naruto asked. "From Fire Country words?"

"Both, I think," Riddin said, furrowing his brow. "Anyway, I'm not one for waiting when it comes to travel. Let's go see if they found a boat yet."

"Alright... Hey, listen," Naruto said, remembering something. "We passed by this trading post on the way here, would you guys mind if we looked around there?"

"Nah, that'd be cool," Riddin nodded.

"I'm just worried about enemies," Rayn said cautiously. She then nodded confidently, "But I feel safe around you guys, so let's do it!"

"_Yosh_!" Naruto exclaimed. "To the docks!"

- - -

"You guys!" Naruto called, waving when they reached the docks. "Did you find a good boat yet?"

"Not yet," Sakura called, waving as well.

She was standing just in front of a boat, and kept glancing at it. It had one fairly large 'cabin' toward the back, though there was enough room to walk around behind it. Right next to the cabin was the mast, the main sail folded up. The helm was out in the open, was made of wood, and looked like it belonged on a pirate ship.

Sasuke exited the cabin, walking back onto the deck. The owner, an old man in gray-brown jacket and pants exited right after him. The old man scratched at his gray hair, glancing over at Naruto, Rayn, and Riddin.

"_Oi_, Rayn-chan! Good t'see you!" the old man called.

"Roku-san!" Rayn smiled. "Good to see you're feeling better!"

"You know each other?" Naruto questioned, standing at the edge of the dock.

"Yeah, I was pretty sick until about a week ago," Roku replied. "The doctors said the medicine wouldn't react fast enough to save me, but Rayn-chan here helped out."

"Well, knowing it's you," Riddin said, closing an eye. "We need a boat. Mind taking us to the trading post?"

"Oh, you with these two, then?" Roku asked, jerking his thumb at Sakura and Sasuke. "Alright, then! All aboard!"

- - - A good deal of time later...

"Land-ho!" Naruto yelled from a horizontal beam that was a part of the mast and main sail. The sun was rising into the sky, and it turned 9:00.

"About time, it's been about 27 hours and thirty minutes," Riddin murmured impatiently. He was leaning against the mast, standing on a horizontal beam like Naruto, his bad foot raised.

Sakura exited the cabin, wiping at her eyes. She had been sleeping, her body still exhausted. "What's all the noise?" Sakura called.

"I see the island!" Naruto exclaimed.

"That was fast," Sakura said, raising her eyebrows.

Riddin used Chakra to keep his good foot attached to the mast-beam he was on, falling back until he was standing upside-down, face-to-face with Sakura.

"You've been sleeping for almost half the trip," he pointed out. "Wow, you must have been tired."

"Heh-heh," Sakura smiled nervously, blushing at Riddin's proximity. "Yeah, I guess..."

"Anyway," Riddin said with a groan, swinging backwards and crouching, swinging about the beam until he was sitting on it with his knees tucked to his chest. "Uchiha and I need a doctor! Then we can go searching around town!"

"That's not a good idea," Sasuke said from the bow (front) of the ship, not turning around. "You and I will get treated, and the others can look around during that time. Once we're healed, we're leaving."

Rayn spoke up from her sitting place on the roof of the cabin, "Unless one of the doctors has medical Ninjutsu at their disposal, and they're good, you guys won't be actually healed... I mean, all a normal doctor can do is give you splints, casts, and pain medicine."

"While we were walking through the town, I noticed a doctor's office that had ex-med-nin," Sasuke replied. "We'll go there -- even with medical Ninjutsu, it will probably still take a few hours combined."

"Will you kids be needing help getting somewhere else?" Roku called from the helm.

"..." The three Leaf ninja glanced at each other. "No," Sasuke said.

"Let's go, then!" Riddin called, launching off of the mast. He landed on the dock, landing on his good foot and hands -- landing as if an animal would. "Where are my crutches?"

Rayn jumped from the cabin, landing on the rails of the ship, holding the crutches -- Riddin's rucksack and her own backpack on her back. She jumped from the rails, landing next to Riddin. She handed him the crutches, and he stood, and shrugged the rucksack onto his right shoulder.

"They sure are eager," Sakura observed dryly, more or less saying it to Naruto, who had dropped down from the mast.

"So am I!" Naruto grinned. "I wanna see if we can find some cool weapons or Jutsu scrolls from a different country!"

"He's obviously coming with me," Sasuke said, walking past them and pointing at Riddin. "You two figure out where Rayn will go."

He jumped off the boat, and he and Riddin walked off. Rayn waited patiently for the blonde and pink-haired Genin to disembark, and was waving at Roku.

"So, uh... d'you wanna look around together?" Naruto asked, glancing at her nervously.

"Alright," Sakura nodded, smiling at him. She then looked over at Rayn, "Rayn, come on. We'll all look around together."

"Okay!" Rayn said brightly, hurrying after them. "But I'm worried about _Ani_... He has more people gunning for him, and he and Sasuke are injured..."

"Ah, Sasuke won't let an injury like that hold him back much," Naruto assured with a big grin. "Even without his Ninjutsu, he's still got Taijutsu."

"I suppose he is of the Uchiha clan..." Rayn said thoughtfully. "Still..."

"Look," Naruto said, frowning. "How about I go hang out with them at the doctor's, then?"

"!" Rayn's eyes seemed to almost pop out of her head. "No, Naruto-kun! You don't have to do that! I worry too much, honestly!"

Sakura smiled as the two of them continued arguing. Sakura figured that Naruto had wanted to spend some time with her, even if Rayn had to pal around -- but he was still willing to abandon a chance at it to put Rayn at ease.

"No, seriously, I'll go!" Naruto insisted, jogging after Sasuke and Riddin. "I'll make sure Sasuke gets healed, and when he is, I'll come find you guys!"

"He's sweet," Rayn said, only loud enough for Sakura to hear.

"Yeah," Sakura agreed, nodding with a smile. "He's a bit of a _baka_, but he's a good guy."

"So you're good friends with him?" Rayn asked, smiling.

"Yeah..." Sakura said slowly, furrowing her brow, almost glaring at Rayn.

"_Ara_! I'm sorry," Rayn said, rubbing the back of her head and blushing. (_Ara_ - Oh) "I have horrible manners! I was simply trying to make small talk..."

"Hmm..." Sakura stared straight ahead, watching Naruto catch up with the others. Sasuke's mouth became a thin line, and Riddin glanced back at the girls and said something. Naruto laughed and waved his hands, saying something. Riddin stared at Rayn for a moment before shrugging and continuing.

"So, your brother raised you?" Sakura asked, trying to sound curious.

"More-than-less," Rayn nodded. "He was three when the clan died, and we were raised in the Hidden Cloud for several years -- so we know about Konoha a bit from the Hyuuga incident. Then we headed for the Hidden Rock when he was eight, but the Kajiya finally located us... and the chase has been on for around eight years now. Albeit, we returned to Lightning Country for most of the time. "

Sakura's expression softened from the slight glare, "Wow, eight years?" She watched Riddin talking to Naruto, the two of them laughing -- though Sasuke did not find their discussion funny. "He seems pretty carefree for someone with so much responsibility."

"_Ani_ tries his best to make things seem better than they are," Rayn said proudly. "He's much more serious than he used to be at times, he's getting worried with the Mist and the Kajiya -- like the smoking thing, that's pretty new. He doesn't tell me much of anything, he wants me to find some bliss in ignorance."

"So you never even knew your parents?" Sakura asked. Rayn shook her head. "...How did you guys learn how to use Chakra and all?"

"We picked up most of it in books," Rayn shrugged. "Though we did convince a ninja or two to help us."

"But you never went to a ninja academy?... How much do you know?"

"Only what we need," Rayn replied. "We both know sealing, our clan were naturals. I know medicine, basic Chakra enhancement, and tree climbing... And a few other stuff, too."

"What about Riddin?" Sakura asked. "To know how to utilize a second Chakra, that's impressive."

"_Ani_ knows one _Katon_, but he's not very good at it," Rayn admitted. "As for his fighting abilities, I'm not really sure. He usually doesn't fight around me -- we usually just run. I know he doesn't know medicine -- but, then again, he's a natural healer."

"Natural healer?" Sakura questioned.

"Minor injuries usually heal overnight," Rayn replied, and then she smiled, "Didn't you notice he has no injuries despite being in a fight in the cave?"

"I just assumed you healed him," Sakura admitted. "So what was the point of learning medical Ninjutsu if he heals on his own?"

"_Ani_ is a pretty sick person most of the time," Rayn admitted. "That's why I only got as far as increasing the effect of medicine. ...He has some weird disease that destroys white blood cells, attacks B and T cells..."

"That sounds serious," Sakura said, furrowing her brow.

Ran simply shrugged before going on with her explanation, "We heard some awesome medical ninja named Tsunade became the Hokage -- hence why we asked for Leaf ninja instead of Cloud, even though Cloud is closer."

_That's why Riddin knew who she was!_ Sakura realized. _He's hoping Tsunade-sama can prolong his life, or maybe even cure him!_

"Does he ever talk about it?" Sakura asked. "The disease?"

"He says without white blood cells, he can get really sick pretty easily. But as long as he get treated soon, he'll be fine," Rayn shrugged. "He says Tsunade-sama is the greatest, and that if anyone can help him, it's her!"

"I have to ask," Sakura said after a moment. "You've been with Riddin all your life, do you know what he thinks of stuff?"

"Ah, Sakura-chan, I know what he'll think before he thinks it," Rayn grinned. "I, on the other hand, am an enigma to him!"

"So, um... Why do you think he protected me?" Sakura asked, blushing. "He was having enough trouble dealing with the others, but he put down his defenses to save me."

"..." Rayn was silent, walking while chewing on her tongue. Rayn looked at Sakura out of the corner of her eye, still quiet. _Don't tell me Sakura-chan has a crush on Ani..._ Rayn broke out in a big grin, "No idea."

"I thought you could read his mind," Sakura said dryly, half-glaring at the brunette.

"I can!" she said brightly. "That's the answer! He doesn't know! _Ani_ doesn't tend to think things out to much. I think he'd say something like, 'I dunno. I like her, I guess.'"

"You think he likes me?" Sakura asked, blushing.

"Sure," Rayn shrugged. _No, Sakura-chan seems to be the kind of girl who doesn't get hit on often, especially by older guys..._ She glanced at Sakura, and saw her cheeks were pink. "Oh, right, Fire Country... Uh... How would _you_ put this?"

"What's that suppose to mean?" Sakura demanded, squinting at Rayn.

"Well, _Ani_ and I spent a lot of time in a different country," Rayn explained. "So most of the words and phrases we use originate, and maybe are only used, there. Even words the rest of the world uses means something a little different for us."

"What was the country's name?" Sakura asked.

"_Yama no Kuni_," Rayn replied. (Land of Mountains) "But it became a part of Lightning Country about two years ago, and most of the culture was lost."

"Okay, I guess I'm not offended, but still... How would I have said it?" Sakura asked.

"I think the same way," Rayn nodded. "You just use 'like' too broadly. Most countries look at 'like' as 'friends with' or 'might love,' and see 'love' as 'romantic feelings.' We're not limited by that."

"...Can you give me an example?" Sakura asked with a nervous smile. "Because you're right, we use _ai_ and _koi_ pretty much interchangeably."

"Okay..." Rayn said, closing her left eye thoughtfully. "Umm... You 'like' a friend, or even an acquaintance. We use '_ai_' when you like a friend a lot, similar to family. '_Ni muchuu ni naru_' is for those you're interested in someone. '_Koi_' is for solid romantic feelings, you're 'in love.'" (_Ni muchuu ni naru_ - have a crush on)

(Author's Note: _Ai_ and _Koi_ both mean love, but in different ways. It's difficult to explain outside of Rayn's explanation, as it's often described differently. However, in a dictionary, it shows how to say 'in love' with _koi_, but not with _ai_, so I used that as a center.)

"Hmm, well I-" Sakura suddenly stopped walking, stopping mid-sentence. She was looking up at something breathlessly, her eyes wide. Rayn noticed the pink-haired kunoichi stopped and turned to see what she was looking at, looking over he shoulder, only to succumb to the same basic reaction as Sakura.

Both girls took a quick, but deep breath, and screamed, "Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"


	10. Chapter 10 Indolence

Disclaimer: Psst! I've got a secret! I don't own _NARUTO_! Wait, that's no secret! I don't own _Pirates of the Caribbean_, which Disney owns. I don't own "_Dragostea din tei_," for those of you who know what the hell I'm talking about. O-Zone owns it, I'm pretty sure.

The only things I _do_ own are this story, the OCs, and now that you've read up to the tenth chapter... _**I OWN YOUR SOUL**_... Relax, I'll have it back to you in about a week. I'll give it back tomorrow if you review.

I was originally going to space out the time between this chapter and the previous one. But things have been a little unstable concerning my internet access, so I'll just post this now.

- - -

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"!" Naruto, Riddin, and Sasuke all stopped -- they hadn't even reached the doctor's office yet.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, running for the source of the sound.

"Damn," Sasuke said, glancing between Riddin and Naruto. Sasuke did a double take -- Riddin seemed to be there, but he looked transparent -- he was actually moving fast enough to leave a blurring illusion. _Clank, clank! _Sasuke looked down to see foot imprints several centimeters into the ground, and the transparent Riddin disappeared. The clank sounds were Riddin's crutches hitting the ground.

Naruto was nearly knocked over by the force of Riddin running past him. Naruto squinted at Riddin's back, which disappeared into the distance only a moment later -- but Riddin wasn't limping, he was running pell-mell with a white mist pouring off of his legs.

Naruto glanced back to see Sasuke hurrying after him, and Naruto took off after Riddin -- or more accurately, he took off for Sakura.

The wind burned against Riddin's face, and he knew full well he was marking up the street from pushing off of it so forcefully. He didn't feel any pain in his left ankle at all, so he just ran faster. Instincts dictated he get down on all fours, but he was getting enough stares as it was -- though the stares was really just wild looks of confusion, wondering where the gale and footprints in the concrete were coming from.

"Oh, my God!" Rayn exclaimed.

Riddin might have said his ears twitch, but that's just how they feel sometimes when the adrenaline starts to hit hard, and the senses boost. Hell, when adrenaline hit and his heart started pumping harder, he could feel his pulse in his temples -- as if his head was going to explode. From the sound of things, she was just around the corner.

White Chakra breathed out of Riddin's left sleeve, quickly coating his hand in a white armor-like claw of pure Chakra. He skid on his heels so he could slow down enough to turn the corner, grasping at the ground to quicken the process, cleaving small trenches into the concrete.

Riddin kicked off with his right foot, dashing forward -- the girls were looking up at something. Riddin skidded to stop, grabbing into the ground again. He sprang up behind the girls, who were standing side-by-side, panting.

"Wha-What's goin' on?" he breathed.

"Look, _Ani_," Rayn said with a smile, happy but calm. "My favorite actor is coming out of his early retirement."

"_Eh_?... Excuse me?" he asked, his eye twitching.

"Kyaharu Seishi!" Sakura exclaimed, sounding more like a teenage girl than she had for several weeks. "He's an incredibly handsome, incredibly talented actor!"

(Manga Effect: Activate! (Ha-ha)) Riddin's eyes widened into perfectly circular, turning completely white. His jaw dropped until it hit the ground, dirt getting kicked up from the impact. The girls were staring up at some stupid movie billboard on top of a shop.

"He retired quite early due to a family death, but now he's back!" Sakura continued, swooning with her hands clasped, her eyes bright and twinkling. "Ooh! They're even filming here, on this island!"

Riddin's entire body shook -- he had gone from not noticing the pain in his ankle thanks to adrenaline, to not noticing the pain due to sheer 'pissed-off-ness.'

(Manga Effect: Activate!) Fire burned in Riddin's eyes, his teeth gnashing together as they grew into fangs. He drew a deep breath, his tongue forked.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" he screamed at the two of them.

"What... what do you mean?" Sakura asked dimly, the twinkling ending.

"THE TWO OF YOU WERE SCREAMING LIKE YOU WERE GETTING YOUR ARMS RIPPED OFF!!" Riddin roared. "YOU SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME, I WAS WORRIED!!"

"Are you done yet?" Rayn asked calmly.

Sakura, on the other hand, furrowed her brow. Riddin was pretty much going psycho over something as silly as this. His teeth actually seemed sharper, and Sakura actually felt a chilling feeling coming off of him -- what seemed like killing intent sprinkled in.

Sasuke and Naruto rounded the corner, the prior's eyes scarlet with a pupil and two tomoe. (Author's note: 'To-mo-e' is the Japanese design resembling a comma) He quickly studied the scene before him, but focused on Riddin after a moment.

Riddin flew through four hand seals before he thrust his palm at the billboard on top of the building, and the air seemed to shift as if a haze gathered in front of Riddin's palm, and then more of his hand, and even his arm. Riddin's entire hand tensed, and his right sleeve billowed. And then the billboard seemed to explode.

"THAT'S WHAT I THINK OF YOUR GODDAMN HERO!" Riddin yelled, pointing at the ruined sign. "RAYN, "YOU OUGHTA KNOW BETTER!" He then turned on Sakura. "AND WHAT KINDA KUNOICHI STARTS SCREAMING IN THE MIDDLE OF A MISSION!?"

"Stop yelling at Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, running up. "Dumb bastard!"

"She deserved it," Riddin retorted before blinking really heavily. He kept blinking until he yawned loudly, falling onto his back with a light _thud_. "Ah, wow... I'm beat."

"Can you stay awake long enough to get to the doctor?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow as he deactivated his Sharingan. He had heard some of the rant, and didn't bother to scold Riddin -- and though he felt he should glare at Sakura, he didn't.

"Don't need to," Riddin replied with a sleepy grin. "My foot's all better, I must have used enough white Chakra to induce regeneration..."

"White Chakra?" Sasuke asked, cocking his eyebrow again.

"_Ara_, you're the only one that doesn't know," Rayn said thoughtfully. "_Ani_ has a second, white Chakra -- it's a lot more powerful than his normal Chakra, but it leaves him exhausted afterwards."

Riddin shifted his backpack so it was resting on his chest, and he hugged it. He yawned, closing his eyes, smacking his lips sleepily.

"Hey, wait!" Naruto said. "If you're healed, what're we going to..." But Riddin was already fast asleep.

"I got him," Rayn smiled, crouching down next to her older brother. She pinched his ear, though not very hard -- but she dug her nail into it, and got a surprising (at least for the ninja) result.

Something resembling a whimper-bark emanated from Riddin's throat, the kind of sound a dog makes when you accidentally step on its tail. He sat straight up, clutching at his ear, as if it was bleeding or going to fall off.

"I hate it when you do that!" he whined. "Jeez!"

"You resemble a dog almost as much as Kiba," Naruto said thoughtfully.

"Wolf, dammit," Riddin growled under his breath. He pushed himself up, switching his backpack behind him again. "Alright... Naruto! You hang with Sakura. Uchiha! I shall protect your wounded butt! Rayn... Do whatever, just don't do something stupid."

"I don't need protection," Sasuke retorted, narrowing his eyes.

"I'll keep you company, then," Riddin shrugged.

"Nor do I need company," Sasuke growled, walking off.

"Pleasant guy," Riddin said dryly, glaring at Sasuke until he turned the corner. Riddin sprang up, looking enthusiastic. "I'm gonna look around! Naruto, Sakura, please protect Rayn. I'll see you in a while."

"Wait!" Sakura exclaimed, trying to rationalize the mission a little. "Don't you think it's bad enough we're taking time out of the mission to treat one member of our team while the others enjoy themselves?"

"Eh," Riddin shrugged, sounding nonchalant. "I'm an easygoing guy. I want my escorts to be at 100-percent. That means Uchiha needs to get his hand fixed. You guys might as well look around while we have time to burn."

"But you hired escorts, for _protection_," Sakura said. "What's the point if you wander off on your own?"

"I can handle myself," he said, raising his hand while not even turning back to look at them. "_Protect_ Rayn."

"Hold up!" Naruto yelled, agreeing with Sakura. "It's our job as ninja to be with you at all times, we can't abandon the client!"

"Look," Riddin said, stopping and looking over his shoulder. "The enemy is probably hours behind, there's no point in arguing. For now, I guess you could say the mission is on hiatus."

"Can he do that?" Naruto asked, turning to Sakura.

"He's the one that paid via mail, upfront even," Sakura said, staring at Riddin's back as he walked off. "He could outright cancel the mission, we'd still get paid. So... yeah, I guess he can."

"_Yosh_!" Naruto grinned. "Now I can relax without feeling guilty!"

"Wait, this means we can go see Seishi-san at work!" Sakura exclaimed, blushing. Her thoughts of staying professional were hurled out of the proverbial window. "Let's go!"

"Eh..." Naruto made a face.

"Hakara Yuri is the lead actress," Sakura said with a deadpan smirk, eyeing Naruto in an annoyed way.

"Am I supposed to know who that is?" Naruto asked, scrunching up his face.

Sakura pointed up at the billboard -- Yuri was still intact. She was a large-breasted, very beautiful woman in her mid-late twenties, sporting a tight red dress that revealed quite a lot of cleavage on the billboard's picture. Naruto stared at the billboard for a few seconds before looking at Sakura.

"Y'know, she does look kinda familiar..." Naruto said slowly, scratching at the side of his head. Sakura sweat-dropped. That wasn't what she was aiming at.

"She was in that pirate movie that came out a few months ago, _Ni Koushudai_," Rayn offered. "She was the rich woman." (To The Gallows)

"Yeah... Didn't she also do some song with Rinkin Kouen?" Naruto asked. "In _To Issho Ni Kimi_?" (With You)

"I think so," Sakura nodded. "C'mon, Naruto! Riddin told us to stick together, so... could we go?"

"Well..." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "...Alright."

"Alright, let's go!" Sakura exclaimed eagerly, hurrying off.

"So..." Naruto said slowly, walking alongside Rayn. "You're... a fangirl, huh? You were screaming."

"Hmm? No, there was a spider was on my shoulder," Rayn said brightly. "I don't like spiders, but I flicked it off. I walked over to Sakura, and she started babbling about the actor. I yelled 'Oh my God' really sarcastically, I guess _Ani_ just didn't pick up on that in his panic."

"..." Naruto was silent, a large sweat-drop falling from the back of his head.

"Please don't think of me as an idiot," she laughed. "I just hate spiders. Though I admit I am a fan of Seishi."

"I guess that's more understandable than the fangirl thing," Naruto nodded.

- - -

"...I'm lost," Riddin said simply, looking around. There was a coffee shop, a barbeque place, and a library in the side street he had just walked into. There were also several street venders sitting in carts or tents, their wares spread out on shelves and towels.

"_Oi_, you!" came a seedy voice. "C'mere!"

"_Ara_, look at that," Riddin said to himself as he turned.

A man in his late teens or early twenties was sitting in one of the tents, a sign reading '_Kyaputen Jakku_.' He had a large brown coat on, a conical hat on his head, throwing his face into the shadows. He had his wares arranged on the various towels, and most of them seemed to be antiques and jewels.

"What?" Riddin asked with his head cocked, crouching down with the inside of his elbows on his knees.

"See anythin' y'like?" the merchant asked, a shiny white smile visible in the shadows.

Riddin looked around at everything briefly. He scratched the side of his head, mildly interested.

_I have nothing better to do, might as well find a souvenir..._ Riddin thought. He noticed a necklace that looked kind of cool, so he picked that up.

- - -

The door's bell jingled, and the old man looked up to see a pissed-off teen walk in, his left hand in bad shape. The boy walked right up, an edgy look on his face, though his voice sounded patient.

"This is the med-nin place, right?" Sasuke asked.

"Yep," the old man replied. "We're pretty busy right now, so there'll be a bit of a wait..."

Sasuke looked around -- none of the waiting chairs were filled, all of the treating rooms' doors were wide open. Sasuke looked up at the old man, and furrowed his brow.

"Not much of a sense of humor, eh?" the old man laughed. Sasuke's mouth became a thin line as he stared up at the old man. "Alright, come on, I'll fix up that hand of yours."

"How long will it take?" Sasuke asked, following the old man into one of the treating rooms. On the floor were several medical Ninjutsu designs, all leaded to a circle in the center of the room.

"Oh... An hour, maybe two, judging from the damage," the old men-nin replied. "What did you do to it?"

"...Got it crushed," Sasuke replied, trying to keep discussion as minimal as possible.

"Obviously," the old man chuckled. "I mean _how_ did it get crushed?"

"Metal-coated hand," Sasuke said, knowing he sounded like an idiot. "This ninja coated his hand in metal and crushed my hand."

"Metal? Huh, never heard of a Jutsu like that," the old man said. "Put your hand in the circle, I'll go get some help to speed up the recovery."

_I need to think of a counter Jutsu..._ thought Sasuke. _I just have to replay everything in my head, and figure out what it was that Naruto did. What was so different that caused the metal to suddenly dent?..._

- - -

"_Suzume_, huh?" Naruto said, reading the sign that indicated that there was a camera crew filming in the field beyond -- they had to go to a deserted part of the island to find the set. There were large, manmade walls made of wood surrounding the set, to use as backgrounds and isolate it even more. (_Suzume_ - Sparrow)

"Let's go!" Sakura beamed. "Seishi-san is said to be very happy when fans talk to him! Maybe we could get an autograph!"

"Woo," Naruto said with sarcastic enthusiasm.

- - -

"_Oi_, Uchiha, you in here?" Riddin called, entering the doctor's office, a bottle of soda in hand. He had wandered around for a while, but eventually got bored and looked for some company. It was around an hour after they had arrived on Firestorm Island, as Riddin had discovered it was called.

"No," Sasuke called from the treating room. "Go away."

"Cheery fellow, isn't he?" Riddin asked the nurse with a grin. The nurse giggled, but remained focused on the medical Ninjutsu. Sasuke just glared at Riddin, his mouth a thin line. Riddin just grinned and sat against the wall, drumming his fingers on his knee.

"Would it help is there was more Chakra in the mix?" Riddin asked.

"Hmm?" The nurse looked up at him. "Oh, yes. The more people, and more specifically more Chakra, the faster we can repair the damage."

"Hihihi, then let's finish this," Riddin said, walking over and sitting in a correct position to aide in the Jutsu. "I'll just provide Chakra, you guys guide it."

- - -

"Yay!" Sakura exclaimed happily, staring at the photo in her hand. She, Naruto, and Rayn walked offset. Seishi, the actor, had actually taken a picture with each of them, and signed the pictures.

"So we went to where you wanted, can we go somewhere I want?" Naruto asked. Sakura nodded, content. "Alright! Let's look for a ninja shop!"

"I know this great place!" Rayn offered, carefully stowing her picture into her backpack. "It's where I got my sealing scroll! _Ani_ also got this amazing fuuma shuriken -- though he hasn't even tried to use it yet." (The big, collapsible ones)

- - -

"Sususu... I saved you some time, huh?" Riddin grinned as he and Sasuke exited, after paying of course. "After I started, it only lasted twenty minutes!"

Sasuke did not reply. He kept glancing down at his hand. After Riddin had begun to help, he had used a strange, white mist of sorts. It must have been the white Chakra he had mentioned earlier. It had some killing intent, but it was repressed enough so only Sasuke could sense it, and only barely. This kid was weird.

Riddin suddenly stopped walking, something in a shop window catching his attention. Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, and then turned around. Riddin was staring into a tattoo parlor, looking at all the designs.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, trying to remain patient.

"I was thinking about getting a new tattoo," Riddin replied. "But, ah... I can't think of anything. I'll probably get one when we reach Konoha."

Sasuke shrugged again and walked off, looking for the others. Naruto had mentioned wanting to go to a ninja shop for Jutsu scrolls and foreign weapons. Unfortunately, Sasuke had no idea where such a shop was.

"So, where you goin' now?" Riddin asked, hurrying forward after Sasuke, leaning forward as he walked so that he looked like he was bowing. He probably just wanted a view of Sasuke's face, since the Uchiha was looking dead ahead.

"To look for the others," Sasuke replied. "They were only going to look around until I was healed. I'm now healed, quite ahead of schedule."

"_Ara_, I hope they won't get upset at me," Riddin said, frowning and sweat-dropping.

- - -

"Wow," Naruto said in awe, staring at a large fuuma shuriken hanging on the wall. Naruto was used to four blades, all poking fairly straight up with a slight curve at the tip. This weapon looked like a bladed swastika, with smaller, somewhat-wavy blades in between.

"That thing is so heavy," Rayn said, rolling her eyes. "I like this one..."

It was a triple-blade fuuma, with a small circle in the center, which was connected to three circles, a blade attached to the larger three. The larger circles had a spiral-like hollowing, to make it lighter. Some of the blades were also cut away, making it look like three blades made up each blade -- which made it even lighter.

Sakura was focusing on various Jutsu scrolls, essentially the medical scrolls. She had already told Riddin she was considering requesting to be the Hokage's apprentice, but had not told anyone else. There were several scrolls from Water and Lightning Countries, and wondered if the extra material would help.

- - -

"Hey... Couldn't you use that Sharingan of yours to find them?" Riddin asked, he and Sasuke walking through the streets.

"It only gives color to Chakra," Sasuke said. "And basic Chakra is yellow -- so everyone's looks the same."

"Oh..." Riddin frowned, but then his face brightened. "Well, most people don't know how to make Chakra -- maybe if we just check each Chakra source..."

"I doubt they'll use Chakra, but knowing Naruto..." Sasuke thought aloud, activating his Kekkei Genkai.

- - - (If this was a manga, this could be a cool scene transition. From Sasuke's two-tomoe Sharingan to Itachi's three-tome Sharingan.)

Itachi was staring at the wall, completely silent. He was wearing black pants and a fishnet shirt, and was just staring at the wall, Sharingan active like always.

"You want any steak, Itachi-san?" Kisame asked, idly twirling the butcher knife. He was wearing a white shirt and the same Akatsuki-issued black pants over his light-blue skin.

"No, I'm not hungry," Itachi replied, still staring at the wall.

Kisame silently wondered if three-tomoe Sharingan could see through walls, and Itachi was staring at the young woman in the next room over -- Kisame could hear the shower in her room running. Itachi was a teenager, after all... Hell, Kisame was 28 and wouldn't mind that ability.

Kisame shrugged, tossing the knife at the steak like a kunai. Kisame was just sitting down to eat when-

"Itachi. Kisame."

"Oh, come on," Kisame muttered, gritting his shark teeth. "Just when I'm about to eat, Leader?"

"Stop complaining, Kisame," Itachi said, reaching out and grabbing his forehead protector. He secured it before grabbing his cloak, throwing it over his shoulder. "What is the assignment, Leader?"

"The _Kyuubi_ and _Gobi_," replied the voice in their heads. "They are currently at the Firestorm trading post, but no doubt plan to head for Fire Country soon."

"The _Kyuubi_?" Kisame asked, glancing at Itachi as the shark-man slipped his arms into the sleeves of his cloak. Itachi showed no reaction to the news, simply zipping up his cloak. "Does that mean the _Kyuubi_ is on a mission concerning the _Gobi_?"

"Yes," Leader replied. "Sources say three Leaf ninja are assisting the _Gobi Jinchuuriki _and his sister to Fire Country, and the _Kyuubi Jinchuuriki_ is among them."

"So, Uchiha Sasuke is probably on the mission as well," Kisame concluded, chuckling as he secured his scratched forehead protector. Kisame slipped his brown sword holder of his shoulder. "That certainly makes things interesting, eh?"

"Not really," Itachi said unemotionally, placing his white conical hat on his head, and then performing a _Henge_ so he wouldn't attract suspicion while they were in town.

"...I'm taking this with, no point it letting it go to waste," Kisame said, simply picking up the steak. He bit into it, easily going through it with his sharp teeth. "You sure you don't want any, Itachi-san?"

Itachi just stared at Kisame with his piercing gaze before exiting. Kisame chuckled as he secured Samehada to its sheath. Kisame bit on the steak to get his hands free, and made the hand seal for a _Henge_. He grabbed the steak and ripped some meat off, walking out after Itachi, not bothering to shut the door.

- - -

_Ring, ring!_

The surprising thing was that the one making Chakra was Sakura. It had not so much been yellow, more of a greenish color -- the color of medical Ninjutsu. She was touching her left forearm, her right hand surrounded by a weak green aura.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, deactivating his Sharingan.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, blushing a little. She lowered her voice, "I was- I was... trying my hand at medical Ninjutsu. I just made a small cut on my forearm to try it on..."

Sasuke rose his eyebrows. "Are you any good?"

"Well... I've only been trying for a few minutes," Sakura said. "But I healed a little..."

"Can I see?" Naruto asked, walking over while holding a fuuma shuriken that resembled a sun. Sakura couldn't find her voice anymore and simply showed Naruto her forearm. Naruto cocked his head, staring at the scratch. "Huh... Well, I'm sure you'll get it soon!" Naruto grinned. "I could ask the old lady Hokage to teach you a bit!"

"N-no, that's alright," Sakura smiled.

Riddin cocked his head, staring at Sakura strangely. When the others weren't looking, she put her finger to her lips. Riddin chortled for a moment before nodding, pretending to zip his mouth shut, and flicking away the key. Rayn noticed this and pretended to catch said key before swallowing it. Sakura covered her mouth to muffle the giggle, turning her attention back on the medical scroll she had been reading.

Naruto began looking over some of the smaller ninja tools. There was mouth ember: You store it in your cheek, and when you bite on it, it ignites. There were a few senbon, as well as various poisons and antidotes. Naruto was staring at a small red ball in particular.

"What's this do?" Naruto asked of the young male cashier, pointing at it.

- - -

"_Ma-ia-hii... Ma-ia-huu... Ma-ia-hoo... Ma-ia-haha_..." Rayn murmured in song, hopping from stone to stone across the river a few stones behind her brother, with Naruto a few rocks behind her -- Sasuke and Sakura were walking over the bridge. They were heading for the western docks, going down a shortcut through the woods. It was around 3PM, and they had spent the time from 10:30 to 2:30 to look around town, a good four hours.

"How much longer until we reach the docks?" Naruto called to his teammates.

"Not long," Sakura replied, trailing her hand over the railing of the bridge. "But we don't have much money left, so we might have to take a slower boat. Plus we'll have to camp out, since it takes about 32 hours to get from the coast to Konoha."

Riddin bent his knees as if he would jump to the next stone, but got lower and jumped up to the bridge, landing on the railing, still crouching. He showed surprising balance, not wobbling in the least -- probably Chakra control, though.

"That shouldn't be a problem," Riddin assured as Sakura and Sasuke walked by him. He grasped the rail and lifted himself, 'walking' down the rail with his hands.

He began singing the same song under his breath, "_Alo,_" he waved at Sakura,"_Salut,_" he waved in a more formal way towards Sasuke (who ignored him)."_Sunt eu,_" he jabbed himself in the chest,"_un haiduc,_" and he flashed an evil grin. (Hello. Greetings. It's me, an outlaw.) He continued singing softly, though he didn't act out the words. Sakura noticed there were some sounds she wasn't sure she could say, they weren't used in their language.

Sakura glanced over her shoulder to watch, wondering why he was doing it. He was showing off for someone, it seemed. His jacket slipped (he's upside-down) to reveal most of his torso. Since he was upside-down and Sakura was in front of him, she saw that his back had various kanji. He began crossing his arms, spinning as he made progress, and she saw he had more on his front side. He was definitely showing off, or at least it seemed so to Sakura.

Sakura squinted to read it all, both on his back and his front. 'Wolf,' 'smile through your tears,' 'survivor,' 'good luck,' 'older brother,' 'endure,' 'protect' beside 'little sister,' 'be proud,' 'be addicted to' next to 'tobacco,' and 'ill.' There was also something red over his chest, but the jacket was in the way.

Riddin didn't notice her staring because his jacket was over his eyes, and just kept going. He bent his elbows and launched himself back toward the river, landing on a rock between Rayn and Naruto, and continuing from rock to rock.

"_Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei. Nu ma, nu ma iei. Nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei,_" Rayn murmured, jumping and landing on dry land. "Repeat what I said..." she mouthed to Sakura, but held up a finger to wait.

"_Chipul tau si dragostea din tei. Mi-amintesc de ochii tai_," Riddin sang, also hitting dry land. Rayn lowered her hand, signaling Sakura.

"_Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei. Nu ma, nu ma iei. Nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei,_" Sakura sang, a little uncertainly.

"_Chipul tau si dragostea din tei. Mi-amintesc de ochii tai_," Naruto sang loudly, grinning, arriving at the end of the river and now walking on dirt.

"_Te sun, sa-ti spun, ce simt acum_..." It was Sasuke this time. He wasn't really singing, he was more or less just saying the words in one of his more pleasant tones. The girls were surprised he knew the song, it was foreign, the other two males were in bewilderment he'd actually take part. "_Alo, iubirea mea, sunt eu, fericirea._" And then he was done.

Rayn and Riddin split up the second half of that verse, and then when it reached the chorus everyone (but Sasuke) sang, "_Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei. Nu ma, nu ma iei. Nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei... Chipul tau si dragostea din tei. Mi-amintesc de ochii tai._"

- - -

Author's Notes: I hid an Easter Egg! Well, several things that add up to an Easter Egg. Technically, two Easter Eggs! And then one reference.

The first was the band, 'Rinkin Kouen.' '_Kouen_' means 'park,' and I guess you could say 'Rinkin' is the Japanese form of 'Linkin,' since Japanese doesn't have an 'L.' So... Linkin Park! And the song that was referenced, '_To Issho Ni Kimi_' roughly means 'With You,' a Linkin Park song... though there is no woman in it.

Then, there's some of the italicized stuff. It's harder to notice (as if the first wasn't hard enough), but it's there. '_Ni Koushudai_,' the pirate movie --'_To Issho Ni Kimi_,' the name of the song --'_Kyaputen Jakku_,' the name of the seedy merchant Riddin saw -- and_ 'Suzume_,' the movie with Sakura's favorite actor in it. In order, it roughly means 'To the gallows -- with you -- Captain Jack -- Sparrow.'

I considered having the actress's name be something like Keira Knightly and the actor's name something like Johnny Depp, or that Bloom guy. But I thought that was pushing it.

Oh, yeah, the reference. The guys are singing "Dragostea din tei," better known to the English world as "Numa Numa."


	11. Chapter 11 Waterlogged

Disclaimer: Psst! I've got a secret! I don't own _NARUTO_! Wait, that's no secret!

- - -

Four figures were kneeling toward one, the one sitting on what looked like a stone throne. He was wrapped in bandages, his visible eye staring between his four minions. Beside this man was a spectacled man in his late teens, who would push his glasses back up his nose every few seconds because it was slick with sweat. His nose was slick with sweat from anticipation, and a slight nervousness, as his master was angry and giving off killing intent.

"...So... you just let him go?" Orochimaru hissed at the Sound Four.

"Orochimaru-sama," Sakon said after a moment. "As you ordered, we gave him a choice. He seemed intent on coming with us, and left to prepare some things. But he never came."

"So you simply came back?" Orochimaru demanded, clutching at the rock arm rests.

"No," Jirobo said. "We were going to enter the village and take him, but several ANBU attacked us. Kidomaru has a large gash on his back, and Sakon's right arm is severely burnt."

"It's Ukon's arm," Sakon murmured, sounding angry.

"..." Orochimaru closed his eye, gritting his teeth under the bandages. _Remain calm, this body can't hold up right now..._ "Kabuto..."

"_Hai_, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto breathed.

"Heal Ukon's arm," Orochimaru said through his teeth. "And Kidomaru's back. We need them in top shape."

"For what, if I may ask?" Kabuto asked, smirking slightly.

"A new mission," Orochimaru replied evilly. "We will take Sasuke-kun with aggression, if necessary. In the mean time, Tayuya."

"_Hai_?" Tayuya asked, still staring at the granite floor.

"Prepare Sasuke-kun's quarters..." Orochimaru ordered. "We'll just have to break him, so make his room... interesting. Understand?"

"Perfectly, Orochimaru-sama," Tayuya nodded, smiling evilly.

- - -

"...So, we're heading for Fire Country's coast?" Yokoji asked. He and Kyouku were in a small wooden boat, Kyouku sitting in the back, using a propeller to speed up the travel by a good deal. Yokoji's stomach was wrapped in bandages, but that was all. Kyouku also had bandages, but he only had cuts on his sides.

"Yes," Kyouku said. "We will reach the port town, and you will wait there. I have some... associates near the coast."

"Right," Yokoji said, looking out at the sea.

- - -

Sakura was staring out at the ocean on the ferry, grasping at the rails -- it was the same ferry they had rode to Firestorm Island in the first place. She couldn't help but think of her discussion with Naruto, and she felt a strange longing to be with her teammates. She took a few breaths before turning around to see Naruto sitting on the rail much like he had the first trip, just staring out at the waves with a grin on his face. Sasuke was lying on the deck with his left hand under his head, idly tossing up a kunai, the blade spinning wildly, but Sasuke always caught it by the handle.

Sakura walked over to Sasuke, sitting next to him. He seemed to nod at her, but otherwise did not acknowledge her presence. Sakura hugged her knees, watching the kunai go up and down, almost mesmerized by the flying steel. Sasuke caught it between his middle and index fingers, and looked over at Sakura.

"Did you want something?" Sasuke asked, looking bored, but cocking an eyebrow.

"Nothing really," she replied, shrugging.

Sasuke just kind of nodded in response. Sakura relaxed a little, stretching out her legs and supporting her upper body with her arms. Sasuke switched his hold on the kunai and continued tossing it up. The two of them were silent for a few minutes, the only sounds they heard were the crashing waves -- the other passengers (Riddin and Rayn included) were in their various cabins, eating dinner.

Naruto glanced over his shoulder, looking at his teammates for a few seconds. Sakura was at peace, simply watching Sasuke being bored. Naruto smiled and stared back out at the waves. A few minutes passed before Naruto flipped his legs over the railing so he was now facing the two of them.

"How long has it been?" he called. "How long we been on this boat?"

Sasuke looked up at the sky, studying the location of the sun. "Around three hours," he replied. "It's about 6:30PM. Are either of you hungry?"

Sakura just shook her head. Naruto looked over at the cabin acting as a cafeteria, and rocked back and forth for a few seconds before jumping off the rail. He waved at Sasuke and Sakura, walking into the cabin to get some food, his stomach rumbling.

"Are you feeling alright?" Sasuke asked, catching and holding the kunai in his fist. "Yoshimitsu said you were in pretty bad shape when he found you, and you've been sleeping a bit more than usual."

Sakura clenched her hand, seeing how strong of a fist she could make. Her knuckles turned white, and she smiled. She had been able to make small amounts of Chakra, but now she felt that after her sleep, she'd be able to make it pretty easily now.

"I feel pretty good," Sakura nodded. "All that sleep definitely did me some good. Plus Rayn did pretty good patching me up."

Sasuke sat up, and Sakura noticed he looked as if he was in thought. He stared out at the ocean for a few seconds before looking at Sakura again. He just stared at her, occasionally blinking slowly, before looking out at the ocean again.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I've just been thinking a lot lately... About you and the _dobe_... About the Orochimaru thing..."

Sakura frowned, "Sasuke-kun, you're not still thinking of going-?"

"No, no," he assured, shaking his head. "It's just that I was completely set on leaving. Yet..." He looked over at her. "...You somehow convinced me to stay... And now I need a new way to get stronger."

"Well, the three of us can train together," Sakura offered, nudging him. "I was thinking about trying to train under the Hokage, but maybe the three of us could just improve together."

"Hmm." Sasuke looked up at the sky. "Maybe. It's somewhat strange, had I left, each of us would have trained under a Sannin. But... I think you should go ahead and ask the Hokage to take you on." He shrugged, "It'd be good for you."

"You think?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow. "I..." She blushed and looked away. "Eh, it's stupid."

"Probably," Sasuke nodded, and Sakura had to stifle a laugh. She wasn't sure if he was kidding or not, but the timing was perfect. "But, what?"

Sakura wondered why it was so difficult to tell Sasuke, when she had told Riddin when he was pretty much a complete stranger. She guessed it was easier to say something to someone who couldn't really judge her, compared to the guy she was talking about. She bit on her lower lip, blushing a little more before drawing up her courage.

"I wanted to get stronger to impress you," she admitted softly, scooting a little closer to him. Sasuke had barely heard her, and just glanced up at her in response, but he heard her nonetheless. He had expected something like this after she told him she loved him in her desperation to make him stay. "...To help you, too."

"Well..." Sasuke said, slowly standing. She looked up at him in a confused, yet entranced, way. Sasuke chuckled in spite of himself, "You must be doing something right. I'm still here."

Sakura just stared at him, blushing even more than before. She wasn't sure what he meant exactly, but she had some guesses. Did he have feelings for her as well? Or was he simply close enough to her and Naruto to realize he was being an idiot when she began crying? Sakura decided it didn't really matter, as long as he was here and she had _something_ to do with it.

"Come on," he said, offering her a hand to help her up. "We should eat some dinner."

She grasped his hand, and he helped her up. She held onto it as she began to walk, and she was surprised to find he didn't resist, he began walking after her -- they were actually holding hands. She was nice enough to release him before they entered the cabin the others were in, and he immediately let go. It was obviously completely for her benefit.

They entered to find Naruto and the Yoshimitsu siblings eating around a circular table, cots lining the walls. Naruto was laughing, Riddin was grinning, and Rayn was trying her best not to choke on her food.

"_Yo_!" Riddin called, satisfied despite that his sister might (comically) die because of his joke. "Eat up, I want you people at full power!"

"This stuff is good!" Naruto nodded, grinning. "You gotta try this stuffed chicken! It's awesome!"

- - -

"Uncle... I see a boat," Yokoji said. "Is it possible they're on that ferry?"

Kyouku pulled on the tiller, and the boat they were in slowly turned for a collision course with the ferry. He pumped more Chakra into the propeller, and it went even faster. Yokoji actually fell back from the sudden boost, as if his hair hadn't been whipping around enough before.

"Either we capture the prey now, or we find a ride to the coast without me wasting any more Chakra," Kyouku grinned evilly.

"Yeah," Yokoji said simply.

- - -

It was 11PM. Naruto, Sasuke, Riddin, and Rayn were all sitting at the table, playing cards -- it was an Earth Country game called Five-Card Draw, and the Genin were beginning to get the hang of it. Sakura was fast asleep in her cot, curled up against her pillow.

Naruto made a face, "I can draw more than one card, right?" Rayn nodded, and Naruto drew two cards, setting two of his own in the 'graveyard' stack. He grinned and slapped his five cards onto the table. "Straight flush!"

"No way," Riddin mumbled, mouth agape, the now-vacant senbon he had been eating dango from earlier falling from his mouth. He watched dimly as Naruto wrapped his arms around all the chips in the pot, dragging them over to his already massive towers of red, black, green, and white.

Sasuke made a face and tossed his cards onto the table, fed up with Naruto's bullshit luck. With a mumble of "I'm going to get some air" he stomped outside, glaring around at the ocean -- and he noticed a two-man boat hurtling toward the ferry. Sasuke activated his Sharingan, and saw the same gray Chakra as the Kajiya's metal.

"Incoming!" Sasuke called, hurrying back into the room. "Naruto, where's that fuuma shuriken you bought earlier?"

Naruto grabbed it, in it's collapsed form, and tossed it to Rayn, who tossed it to Sasuke. He hurried out and let it open up to reveal the swastika and wavy blades. Sasuke threw his arm back, and then hurled it for the boat. The fuuma tilted so it was vertical, and cut into the boat, cutting the bow in half. The two people aboard jumped off, only to have what looked like a trashcan lid appear below them. The bigger figure made some weird arm movements, and the flotation device hurtled itself for the boat.

"So much for that," Sasuke muttered, and watched the fuuma arc. He realized a blue string of Chakra was attached to it, and when he glanced back, saw that Rayn was guiding the fuuma back so it wouldn't fall into the ocean -- she must have done it before she gave it to Sasuke.

"Anyone know _Suiton_?" Riddin asked, hurrying out of the room and jumping onto the ferry's railing. He looked around, and was happy to see everyone else on the boat was in their cabins -- at least no innocents would be in the way.

"No," the Genin all said in unison, shaking their heads, Sakura hurrying out, her hair a bit of a mess, her eyes only half-open.

"And I can't guide Chidori well enough to hit them," Sasuke said. He glanced behind himself at all the metal that made up the ferry. "Are you sure they can't use other metal?"

"...Fairly," Riddin said with a nervous smile. "...If they knew how to inject Chakra into the metal... But I don't think they can," Riddin said. "The only way I know how to do that is with my _Henshin Wa_, or some other kind of advanced seal."

"Didn't you use that Jutsu on their metal?" Sakura pointed out, rubbing her eyes. "Have you ever done that before?"

"_Ara_... Crap," Riddin groaned. (_Ara_ - Oh) "You mean they copied my Jutsu?"

"As if fighting them before wasn't hard enough," Sasuke growled.

Yokoji made the special hand seal, and then clasped his hands together. He thrust his right palm at the ship, and what looked like a red-hot cattle prod extended from his palm. It went right past everyone, and sank into the metal of the cabin by two centimeters. The prod removed itself, revealing a vertical eye that seemed to be squinting, so it was just barely open.

The five of them quickly got away from the metal wall -- though it was only a small part of the cabin's outer wall that was metal. The metal slab rattled for a moment before it sacrificed some mass for a tentacle, the slab getting smaller as the tentacle grew longer. The tentacle went for Rayn, who had jumped onto the roof of the cabin.

Sasuke, however, had actually jumped for the pole that connected the end of the prod to Yokoji. He landed on it, using Chakra to stay balanced, and he sprinted down for the Kajiya.

_If he's controlling that metal slab, he won't be able to defend,_ Sasuke reasoned, making hand seals. _So either he'll cut the connection and defend, and Rayn will get to a safe distance... Or, he will still attack her, leaving me an opening... _

"Going to do that Lightning attack again?" Yokoji smirked, making a hand seal.

_So he's going to defend... Perfect,_ thought Sasuke.

Since the 'boat' they were on was heading for the ferry, Sasuke quickly got close to them. He jumped up, finishing his hand seals.

_**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!**_ (Fire Release: Grand Fireball)

The flame blocked Sasuke's point of view, but it hit where they were perfectly. They didn't burst out of the fireball like they had kept going, though, which was odd...

"!" Sasuke's eyes widened. "Damn!"

They had gone down -- the disc they had been floating on apparently had their feet secured, because it just went straight down, and then seemed to chug through the water, and the fireball missed them completely. Sasuke landed on the water, steam rising all around him from the heat of his flame hitting the salty water.

_There's no way we can win like this,_ thought Sasuke. _We'll have to try the new tactic..._

Sasuke sprinted back for the ferry, jumping up onto the deck. Everyone else was amassed on the roof a cabin on the other end of the ship, so he hurried over to them.

"Let's take the fight to the sea!" Sasuke yelled, jumping out onto the water again.

Everyone jumped as far as they could, landing on the water. Riddin and Rayn seemed to have some experience in water walking, as they took off running as soon as they hit the water. Sakura's feet were submerged for all of a second before she popped back up, and she hurried off -- Sasuke and Naruto right behind her.

"They're just going to catch us!" Naruto yelled, glancing over his shoulder to see the two Kajiya surfing on the trashcan lid-like device. It was pretty fast, but so were they. "This is great!" Naruto exclaimed, laughing.

"?" Sakura didn't understand what was great about being chased.

"Uchiha, Naruto, let's go!" Riddin yelled, pivoting and running right for the enemy, kicking off his ninja-style-sandals as he went.

Sasuke followed after him but kept his shoes on, running a small distance behind Riddin, with Naruto running a bit of a distance away from either of them. Riddin jumped and landed on his hands, bending his knees. Sasuke jumped onto his feet, and the two of them charged up their legs with Chakra before Riddin acted like a trampoline and sent Sasuke airborne.

Sakura, who had been asleep during some planning, just stared dimly while Rayn watched eagerly, a big smile on the brunette's face. Sakura was following Sasuke, who was just going higher and higher, flipping around gracefully. She shook her head and focused on the other two.

Naruto was just running at the enemy, and then he summoned a few Shadow Clones. Riddin used the momentum of pushing Sasuke up to flip forward, running for the enemy again. Riddin pulled a kunai from his pocket and diced open his right index finger.

_Hopefully Naruto can hold off the younger one long enough..._ thought Riddin, making a hand seal -- smoke surrounding his feet. As the smoke cleared, Sakura could see blood in the water, the source apparently Riddin's feet.

"Alright, let's go!" Naruto yelled, sprinting for Yokoji. He jumped up into the air, while his four Shadow Clones just kept running. They surrounded Yokoji, making a circle with Naruto still airborne.

"**U-Zu-Ma-Ki**!" The four Shadow Clones jumped and then slid on their sides, kicking up at Yokoji -- but he had some metal on his right arm, so he morphed it into a large ring around him that blocked all the kicks. "**Naruto **_**Rendan**_!" The real Naruto lashed out his heel, trying to hit Yokoji over the head, but Yokoji just tilted his head and shifted to the left, and Naruto's heel just hit a metal shoulder-plate under Yokoji's cloak.

"Ye....ow!" Naruto whined, grabbing at his heel as he jumped on one foot, glaring at Yokoji. "Bastard!"

Riddin started slashing at Kyouku, who dodged and formed a blade on his right arm. Now Riddin was forced to dodge, ducking and jumping out of the way of the blade. Riddin couldn't help but wish he had remembered to bring his transforming bracelet, but he had forgotten it in his rush from the cave. Kyouku made a second blade, and continued the attack. Riddin kept glancing up for some reason...

"!" Riddin tossed his kunai from his right hand, dropping down to his now-free right hand, suspending himself with just that. Riddin kicked out to block both blades at once, the soles of his bare, (for some reason) bloody feet hitting the flat side of the blades. Riddin craned his neck to catch the kunai by the handle in his mouth before scooping up some water with the hand he was balancing on and threw the water at Kyouku, getting his cloak somewhat wet -- Riddin now 'standing' on Kyouku's blades.

Riddin spit the kunai out, catching it and making the Ram hand seal, the kunai in between his hands. He seemed to thrust it at Kyouku, but it came up pitifully short, barely getting the blade beyond his torso. Riddin squeezed his eyes shut, and smoke surrounded the kunai.

"Ha!" Kyouku laughed when he saw Riddin's Jutsu didn't seem to do anything. "Is that all?"

_Splash. _Sasuke had landed behind Kyouku, the Chidori sparking from his left palm. Kyouku rolled his eyes and made an electric-resistant shield across his back -- Riddin grinded his teeth together, gathering Chakra to the soles of his feet.

_**Nibai Henshin**__!_ thought Riddin. (Double Transformation)

"**CHIDORI**!" _Massive ZAP sound._

"H.. how?" Kyouku mumbled, gritting his teeth. The Chidori had hit, somehow. Kyouku couldn't feel his arms, and his torso was still crackling with some electricity. Riddin let out a gasp and released Kyouku's blades, lying on the water -- though his arms and legs sank into the water.

"Well, first off, you're wet," Sasuke said, his arm just hanging in front of himself. "Second, the blades on your arms. Third is Riddin's kunai."

"I don't understand," Kyouku said, falling to his knees. "What do those have to do with?..."

"Riddin transformed your blades into highly conductible metal," Sasuke explained, letting his arm fall to his side. Kyouku managed to see a _Henshin Wa _on each blade -- put there when Riddin put his feet up to block them.

Sasuke continued, "While your metal has conductivity normally, with it vamped up, you lost movement in your arms from the shock. The kunai is also altered, and acted as a lightning rod."

"Which means..." Riddin said, panting. Blood was seeping from the soles of Riddin's bare feet, the blood still visible in the water. The wounds disappeared, simply altered from the self-inflicted wound on his finger. "The Lightning Chakra worked around your shield, into your body, through the conductive kunai, and then into mine."

Kyouku mumbled something incoherently, staring at Riddin. Kyouku then face-planted into the water, and began to sink. Yokoji dashed in and used metal to scoop out his uncle, and then he fled the scene. Nobody bothered to follow them.

"I can't move my arms or legs," Riddin said thoughtfully. "That's not good. Uchiha, why can't I move?"

"Because the Lightning was concentrated, you're apparently suffering from partial -- though temporary -- paralysis," Sasuke explained. "You'll regain movement soon. If you're lucky, Sakura may be able to help."

"That was awesome!" Naruto and his Shadow Clones cheered before the Clones dispersed. "I mean, I know you more or less planned it out, but... Wow!"

"Yeah, great," Riddin grunted, struggling to stay afloat. "As least I only got hit with some electricity, and wasn't stabbed." His right fingers moved a little. "Ha-ha! I already have some feeling!"

"Come on, we should get back to the ferry," Sasuke said.

Sakura looked back at the ferry and sweat-dropped. The metal slab Yokoji had altered had been altered quite a bit, a large tendril of metal sticking out of it. "That's... going to be difficult to explain."

- - -

The Kajiya duo had reached the coast, but was in a different port town than the one Naruto and friends would arrived at. Yokoji had gotten his uncle treated to a degree, but they could not find a med-nin. They had met Kyouku's associate in an alley, like most of their meetings.

"So... haven't seen you for a while, Kyouku," the man greeted, nodding. He was wearing a cloak, but Kyouku knew what was under it.

He was wrapped in bandages from head to toe, with only a few exceptions. A range finger was poking out of the bandages where his right eye was, and it kept whirring despite not being touched. The strange hunch on the man's back, despite him standing straight up, was new to Kyouku.

"I'm well aware of that," Kyouku growled.

Kyouku's arms were wrapped in bandages, hanging limply in front of him. He had ditched his cloak, and was now wearing a blue shirt and black pants. His black hair was missing in spots, both from Sasuke's _Katon_ and Chidori.

"And Yokoji," the man added, noticing the thin teen leaning up against the wall.

Yokoji's brown eyes just stared at the man from under his steel-gray hair. Yokoji was now wearing a red hoodie and blue jeans, and felt much more comfortable than he did in the cloak -- especially after he got rid of the armor.

"So... to what do I owe the pleasure?" the man asked, tilting his head to an awkward angle. "After all this time?"

"Well, Maji, I'm having some trouble with these brats," Kyouku replied. "And I'd like your help."

"Is that so? What about them?" Maji asked.

"You recall the Yoshimitsu?"

"...The _Fuuin_-_Jutsu_ clan? Yes, I recall them," Maji nodded. (Sealing) "After the major battle at their compound, only two were left. You and Narucho took it upon yourselves to 'end the war.'"

"Well, they've eluded us for far too long," Kyouku growled. "We always had the upper hand in fights, and they would just flee. Now they have Leaf brats on their side. Unless we hurry, they will find sanctity in Konoha."

"Leaf?" Maji repeated, sounding irritated. He murmured several cursed before, "...Ruining Orochimaru-sama's plans..."

"?" Kyouku narrowed his eyes. "Orochimaru...'-sama'?"

"Ah, yes, it's been a while..." Maji lowered the cloak's hood to reveal a Sound forehead protector, worn over the bandages like a bandana. "I am a part of Otokagure, the Hidden Sound... Orochimaru-sama is my leader. So... tell me about the Leaf brats."

Kyouku sighed in an annoyed way. "There's a blonde one that can use _Kage Bunshin_. A pink-haired girl who shows nothing special... Oh, yes, and an Uchiha."

"!" Maji tilted his head again, his neck cracking. "Uchiha... 'Sasuke-kun'?..." He sounded eager, almost deranged. "Perfect... Kyouku, I will assist you, but in return... I want the Uchiha boy."

Kyouku smirked. "You got a deal."

- - -

"Itachi-san? Shouldn't we go to Firestorm or something?" Kisame asked, as they entered a coastal town in the dead of night. "Instead of just staying here?"

"This is the only port that has trips to _and_ from Firestorm," Itachi replied. "So we simply wait here until they arrive. With these surroundings, you should have the upper hand, as well."

"Huh... Good point," Kisame noted, staring out at the vast ocean.

- - -

By this time, however, the gang was already in town. They had decided to get a room at a cheap motel, and just all slept in the same room. Naruto was fast asleep on the floor, Sasuke was sleeping in a chair that was facing the door, Sakura was sleeping in in one of the two beds. Rayn was sleeping on the second bed, with Riddin sleeping against the foot of it.

Hopefully, Itachi and Kisame wouldn't visit the same motel and see Naruto's name on the register.


	12. Chapter 12 Houkou no Ezo

`Disclaimer: Psst! I've got a secret! I don't own _NARUTO_! Wait, that's no secret!

- - -

The sun was just rising over the horizon, just beginning to bask the town with light. The tranquil morning ocean reflected the massive, fiery orb perfectly. A lone figure opened the glass sliding door of the motel room, stepping out on the porch/balcony and closing the door behind him. He pulled out a silver box and white cylinder, popping open the box and igniting the end of the cylinder with a flame from the box.

_Inhale... Exhale..._

Smoke billowed from Riddin's mouth, the cigarette between his right middle and index fingers. He stuffed the silver lighter into his pocket before scratching at his forehead, his hair pulled back in his morning ponytail so that he wouldn't accidentally ignite his normally spiked bangs. Riddin grasped at the railing with his free hand, staring out at the ocean.

"Thirty-two hours or so of travel, and we'll be at Konoha," Riddin said to himself. He took another drag on the cigarette, glancing back at the various younger teens sleeping in the room. Sasuke was beginning to stir in the chair, and eventually grabbed the back of the chair and lifted himself up. He walked over to the sliding door, opening and walking out. He noticed Riddin was smoking and shut the door, so the smoke wouldn't wake the others.

"`Morning," Sasuke mumbled, grasping at the rail with both hands. Riddin simply nodded, tugging at the cigarette. "You always wake up this early?"

"Only lately," Riddin replied, sounding serious for once, exhaling away from Sasuke. "Does this bother you?" Sasuke shook his head and Riddin took another drag. A steely silence enveloped the two, the only noise being the waves crashing in the distance.

"We should move out soon," Sasuke said after about five minutes. "You're more or less safe from the Mist, now that we're in Fire Country. They won't want to start a war between Mist and Leaf."

"That's good," Riddin nodded. He began to cough, and he quickly covered his mouth.

"Don't tell me you have cancer already," Sasuke said, not even cracking a smile.

"Huh... Hope not," Riddin said thoughtfully, looking at the palm that had covered his mouth. It had a few droplets of blood from the cough. _What the hell? I haven't bled like this for months..._

"That _Fuuton_ you used earlier," Sasuke said. "What was it called?" (Wind Release)

"Wind Release: Air Cannon," Riddin replied. "You caught that with Sharingan, then? Is there anything else you want to ask about?"

"...About that transforming seal of yours," Sasuke said, smirking. "What was it called?"

"..." Riddin narrowed his eyes. "_Henshin Wa_." _What kind of kid ninja reads manga?!_ (Transformation/Transmutation Circle) "Uchiha... Why do you ask?"

"I simply was wondering why you went with _Henshin_ instead of the usual _Henge_," Sasuke lied, shrugging innocently.

The edge of Riddin's lips curled up in a silent snarl, as if baring fangs. He took a moment, making sure not to actually growl, before saying flatly, "Uchiha."

"Hmm?" Sasuke glanced at him, smirking in a victorious way. He would never admit it to anyone, but he had read some manga when he was a younger child.

Riddin glared at Sasuke, "I hate you."

(Explanation: _Henshin_ is often used in manga or anime or whatever concerning superheroes. Japanese superheroes apparently don't always have their abilities 'activated,' and to switch to their 'superhero alter ego,' they would often yell "_Henshin_!" Riddin took this up, using his clan's Sealing-Jutsu talents to create the _Henshin Wa_. I had fun exploiting this. Plus I like the image of a little 5-6-7-year-old Sasuke reading a manga.)

- - -

Rayn was wandering around the town, it was around 7AM. Sakura had still been sleeping, so Rayn decided to look around. Rayn bought two small breakfast bento from a vender, one for herself and the other for Riddin, paying the necessary ryou. When she whirled around, she nearly shouldered a man about her brother's height.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Rayn exclaimed, taking a step back.

The man simply glanced at her. Rayn couldn't help but feel a strange sense of deja vu as she studied the man's face. Rayn glanced at the man's companion -- he was much taller, standing over six feet. The much taller man was not paying any attention, staring into a shop window. Rayn couldn't help but stare at the mini-tower of bandages on the man's back.

"It's quite alright," the first man assured, his voice soft.

Rayn smiled at him, still feeling that strange sense of having seen the man before. She nodded at the man before beginning to walk back to the motel, wondering why he looked so familiar.

Rayn shrugged, _Ah, well. Maybe he just has one of those faces._

- - -

"...Come again?" Orochimaru said, narrowing his eyes. He was still in his bandaged form, still looking like his latest container. He had his elbow propped up on his 'throne,' his chin on his hand.

"Message from a Sound soldier, Akiiro Maji, via messenger hawk," Kabuto said. "It says he is going to be trailing Sasuke-kun and his team while they head for Konoha. He said he will capture Sasuke-kun, and bring him here."

Orochimaru smiled evilly under the bandages. "Perfect... This means we may be able to send a team to capture Sasuke-kun in the open, without the annoying Leaves around... Tell the Sound Four to move out."

- - -

_Attack in the dead of night... That's what Orochimaru-sama would do..._ Maji was staring over the camp that the five teenagers had made that night -- two tents, the Yoshimitsu in one and Sasuke-kun and the blonde in the other. Only the pink-haired girl was awake, rubbing her arms and staring into the fire -- the night watch. _How pathetic._

Sasuke-kun exited his tent suddenly, though the girl did not notice. He wearing a blue leather-looking coat, a baggy hood lined in black -- he was carrying a red coat. He draped the red coat over the girl's shoulders, and she looked up at him appreciatively. He sat next to her, and they both stared into the fire.

- - -

"Hmm? Oh, thanks, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said softly, smiling when she felt the winter coat drape over her shoulders. She hugged it closer to her body, staring at the fire. She eventually slipped her arms into the sleeves, and she glanced at Sasuke. "Why aren't you asleep yet? We traveled all day, you must be tired."

"I'm not sleepy," Sasuke replied with a shrug, staring into the fire, his onyx eyes reflecting the flickering flames. "I've had too much on my mind." He glanced at the clients' tent. "...Maybe I'll talk to Yoshimitsu tomorrow, he apparently needs to have something to do -- what with all that jumping around."

"I have to admit, I'm impressed Rayn can put up with him for so long," Sakura giggled, and Sasuke smiled a little and nodded. "It's funny how different he seems now -- he was much more serious when I first woke up."

Sasuke shrugged. "Everyone has different sides. Even Naruto has a serious side. You have an aggressive side..."

"And you have a softer side," Sakura smiled.

Sakura couldn't read the expression on Sasuke's face, nor the feeling in his eyes. It seemed softer to her, but she could have just been hoping. At the very least he didn't look annoyed with her. Sasuke then let out the air in his lungs, in what Sakura interpreted as a silent laugh.

"I suppose so," he said simply, the side of his mouth tilted up.

- - -

"!" Maji smirked under the bandages. Sasuke was going behind a large rock formation, no doubt to relieve himself. _Perfect... Sasuke-kun is isolated... I shall kill the girl, and take Sasuke-kun... Kyouku and Yokoji can deal with the other brats._

Maji zipped down for the campsite, completely silent. He stopped right behind Sakura, a kunai in hand. He smirked and reached down to end the girl's life when... his hand simply went through her, as if it was a hologram (as if they know what a hologram is) -- it was really a normal _Bunshin_. (Clone)

Sakura, who had a collapsed fuuma in hand, slashed for the enemy's head from behind. Maji ducked, grasping at the bandages on his right palm. He jerked his right palm towards Sakura, and she found herself looking down a tube in the man's palm -- just like Zaku from the Chuunin Exams. Maji's arm muscles tensed, building up Chakra.

"Air waves: 0-percent; Sound waves: 100-percent," Maji smirked, aiming for Sakura's head -- he'd blow her ears up if necessary.

The wheels in Sakura's mind were in overdrive, trying to think of something. She couldn't think of anything to plug up the holes like Shino did with his bugs, so Sakura concluded she had to dodge -- hopefully this guy couldn't guide the sound.

"!" Sakura looked down -- the bandages that had unraveled from Maji's hand had wrapped around her, keeping her in place. He must have controlled them with his Chakra, much like Dosu (Sound guy with arm weapon) controlled the sound from his Melody Arm.

"Goodbye," Maji growled. "_**Zankuuha**_!" (Decapitating Air Waves)

"_**Fuuton: Kihou**_!" (Wind Release: Air Cannon)

A blast of wind billowed directly in front of Sakura, cutting at the bandages and throwing Sakura's hair in disarray. The blast of wind must have carried the sound attack away, guiding it into a boulder, pulverizing it.

She glanced right, which was the source of the gust, to see Sasuke pointing his right palm at the two of them, his hand tense like Gaara's for his various sand attacks. Sasuke was panting and clutching at his right wrist in a bracing way.

Luckily, Sakura only barely glanced at the Uchiha, and then she crashed her fist into the enemy's stomach, causing him to grunt in pain. Sakura swung her other fist, socking Maji in the face, causing him to stumble backwards into the fire. He yelled in surprise and jumped tearing off his cloak -- which had caught flame.

Without his cloak and hood, his Sound headband was now visible -- as if it wasn't obvious from his attack. There was also a strange black device over his right ear, looking like half-sphere. His entire body was wrapped in clean bandages, and he had a kunai holster on his right leg.

He had a box-like device that looked like a test-tube holder, though it was needles instead of test-tubes. There were four needles, each a different color -- light green, blood red, sky blue, and yellow. The device was surgically hooked to his back, and it looked like the needles would inject into either his spinal column or his bloodstream.

"Smart move, Sasuke-kun," Maji sneered. "Using a Wind Release to carry the sound away." Maji grabbed the bandages over his left palm, and both Leaf ninja tensed, ready for a second air/sound cannon -- and they were not disappointed. Sasuke grinded his teeth, and clutched at his left shoulder instinctively.

"So you're with Orochimaru?" Sasuke snarled. "I decide not to go to him, and he decides to kill me?"

"Oh, no," Maji chuckled. "I plan on taking you by force. Though I will likely kill your comrades."

Maji went through several hand seals before thrusting both palms at Sakura. _Right hand, Air waves: 0-percent; Sound waves: 100-percent... Left hand, Air waves: 100-percent; Sound waves: 0-percent._

"Let's see you redirect this one!" Maji yelled. "_**Zankuuha**_!"

"For us, your attacks are old news," Sasuke said, several meters behind Maji -- setting Sakura down, since he had carried her out of the way. His Sharingan was already activated, but he hadn't use the Cursed Seal yet. The attack, obviously, hadn't even scathed him or Sakura.

"!!" Sasuke was suddenly gone. He wasn't standing above Sakura anymore, dust wasn't even kicked up from him moving. Maji glanced left and right, but did not see the Uchiha boy.

(Note: You have to realize, with Maji's only eye using the range finder, he has a very limited field of vision, with no real peripherals. Close your left eye and look through thin, short tube -- that is Maji's line of sight.)

Sasuke's foot nearly crashed into the underside of Maji's jaw -- but Maji leaned back, avoiding the attack. Maji reached out and grabbed Sasuke's leg, but Sasuke lashed out with his other leg, kicking Maji back.

_He's fast,_ thought Sasuke.

Maji was on all fours, he had skidded into that position from the kick. Sasuke noticed the blood red needle had been used, the hammer pushed down and the liquid already pulsing inside Maji. It must have been a steroid or adrenaline drug of some kind.

"I may not have a _Kekkei Genkai_, and I haven't been graced with Orochimaru-sama's power," Maji said, slowly standing. "But I have donated my body time and time again. I have abilities you can't even imagine."

Maji ran, but Sasuke could track him with Sharingan. Sasuke ducked and pivoted, catching Maji's left wrist and flipping Maji over himself, slamming him into the ground. Maji groaned, but his left hand -- the one Sasuke was holding -- opened up, and the bandages wrapped around Sasuke to hold him in place.

"!" Sasuke's eyes widened. _Is it air or sound? He shouldn't be able to change the setting without hand seals, and the last time he attacked, it seemed like each hand was either using air or sound._

Sasuke was sent flying from the attack, the sheer strength of the wind felt like a punch to his stomach and chest all at once. Sasuke flipped, keeping his eyes on the enemy. Maji went through a few hand seals to adjust his air/sound cannons before turning his attention back to Sakura to find Naruto was awake and out of the tent -- all the yelling must have woken him up.

_Leave the Kajiya on the sidelines for now,_ thought Maji. _I can still take on a few brats. Kyouku will just be in the way, and I'm not sure of Yokoji's skill. For now, he will be a last resort._

"Right!" Naruto yelled suddenly, making Maji look back at him. "Time for my newest technique! _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!"

Naruto and his two Shadow Clones rushed at Maji, and the Sound ninja rolled his eye behind his range finder. He raised his left hand, and released another blast -- the two Shadow Clones were dispersed, and Naruto himself was thrown back until he was sliding on his back, stopping near Sakura. Naruto clutched at his ears, his eyes squeezed shut. There was a loud ringing in his ears, and he couldn't hear anything else -- Maji had mixed air and sound in that last attack.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Sakura exclaimed, falling to her knees. "Naruto! Can you hear me?!"

By now, Sasuke had landed back on the ground and was quickly advancing on Maji from behind. Maji quickly turned after hearing Sasuke's footsteps -- the black device on his right ear helped amplify most sounds, making stealth fairly ineffective. Maji made a hand seal, and the light green needle sank into his skin, releasing the drug.

_Pachichichichi..._ Sasuke dragged the Chidori through the ground, creating a trench in the process. Sasuke thrust his hand at Maji, who was facing him, and the Sound ninja didn't even bother to dodge -- it just sank into his stomach.

"Ha!" Sasuke let out a triumphant laugh before yanking his blood-coated hand from the Sound shinobi. Sasuke blinked dimly when Maji's stomach seemed to be rebuilding itself, healing almost instantly. The Chidori had already ended, so Sasuke jumped back several meters, getting some distance for safety.

"The green drug increases cell production," Maji explained. "It allows me to heal almost instantly, regardless of the injury. I even have control of which cells are created. It's still in the development stage, so it's risky, and I only have two minutes."

_I have one... maybe two Chidori left,_ thought Sasuke. _Maybe if I cut off a limb or two in one strike, and burn up his cell count... Maybe the drug isn't advanced enough to grow limbs, and he'll just bleed out. On the other hand, if I strike his head and damage the brain..._

"Even if you have an increased cell count, it takes Chakra to use medical Ninjutsu," Sasuke called, trying to stall for time. "You'll burn up your Chakra."

"I know what you're doing, and it won't work," Maji chuckled. "However, you're wrong -- it takes Chakra to increase cell production, that's what most medical Ninjutsu is. But production is already increased, so it takes no Chakra."

Maji rushed toward Naruto and Sakura with the prior still on the ground and clutching at his ears, the loose bandages from Maji's hands were flapping about wildly, unraveling to reveal more and more of his pale arms. Maji thrust his right hand at the two of them, the bandages shooting out to grab one, or both if possible.

Naruto quickly stood up, though he stumbled a little. He managed to slash at the bandages with a kunai before they could get to Sakura, but they just thrashed for a moment before grabbing Naruto. Naruto grabbed at the bandages, planting his feet, pushing and leaning back to stay still despite being pulled in by Maji.

Sakura rushed forward, hoping to attack Maji while Naruto had minor control over Maji's right arm -- since Maji could not break the connection of bandages between himself and Naruto. She saw Maji raise his left hand for another attack, but she also saw Sasuke jump forward -- so Maji wouldn't hear footsteps.

Sasuke landed and grabbed Maji's left hand, preventing him from attacking. Sasuke twisted the Sound ninja's wrist so he couldn't use the air/sound attack like earlier. Sakura grabbed the bandages holding Naruto and cut through them all -- which let Sasuke grab Maji's other arm, holding them bother behind his body. It looked almost exactly like the counter Sasuke had used against Zaku several months ago. Sasuke planted his foot next to the device on Maji's back, and began to pull.

"You're going to break my arms?" Maji laughed.

Maji's arms seemed to stretch as Sasuke pulled, and he realized what must have been happening. Maji not only could make his limbs slightly longer, similar to Orochimaru, he had the same ability as Tsurugi Misumi -- the Leaf-traitor from the Chuunin Exams who could move about as if boneless.

Maji managed to get his hands together for a few hand seals, Sasuke still holding his arms. _Both hands, Air waves: 100-precent; Sound waves: 0-percent. _"_**Zankuuha**_!" Maji barked, blasting Sasuke away. Once Maji was free, he returned his limbs to normal.

Maji rushed at Naruto and Sakura, unleashing a blast of air pressure at them before they could do anything, sending them flying away -- Sakura, the thus-far uninjured one, crashed into a boulder. Naruto was simply flung away, though his hearing was beginning to return to normal. They were still both too stunned to fight, so Maji rushed at Sasuke to get the hell out.

Sasuke was lying on his stomach after being blown away, apparently clutching at his chest. As Maji approached him, Sasuke lifted himself with his left hand, revealing that he was holding a fuuma shuriken in his right. Sasuke rotated while balancing on only his left hand, getting enough momentum to hurl the fuuma, and Maji was running too quickly to be able to jump out of the way. The fuuma slashed through his belly, slicing him in half.

"!!" Sasuke's eyes widened. "No way..."

The bandages of Maji's upper and lower bodies lashed out and pulled the two pieces together, and steam rose as cells reconnected the two pieces, repairing the organs, and replacing the blood.

_This is impossible!_ thought Sasuke. _I can't break his bones, I can't dice him up, Chidori and Katon are useless... Wait, I just have to wait for the two minutes to end! There should only be about 30 seconds left... The Cursed Seal can buy me that much time, but with Naruto and Sakura here..._

-FLASHBACK -

It was the early-afternoon after Sasuke had decided to stay -- no less than twelve hours ago Sakura had been talking with him. Said Uchiha was eating his bento at a picnic table outside the Ninja Academy, slowly picking at the teriyaki chicken and Okaka rice ball (the latter of which was one of his favorites). He looked up when he sensed someone sitting across from him -- it was Naruto.

"_Yo_," Sasuke greeted with the usual lack of enthusiasm.

"..." Naruto was silent for a moment. "So... Orochimaru, huh?"

"No," Sasuke replied before taking a bit of chicken. Naruto stared at him, waiting for him to continue. So, of course, Sasuke took his time chewing. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"You could have left," Naruto pointed out. "You could have ignored Sakura-chan, or knocked her out, or-"

"But I didn't."

"But you could have!" Naruto yelled, slamming his hands onto the table. "What is it with you!? What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Naruto," Sasuke said flatly, setting down his chopsticks. "Don't get short with me. Yes, I could have left. I even tried to. I was fully intent on leaving Konoha. But. I. Did. Not. You should just be able to leave it at that. If you can't, go bother Iruka with your nonsense, and leave me to eat in peace."

Naruto didn't leave, but he didn't talk for the longest time. He just watched Sasuke eat, thinking. When Sasuke tossed the bento in the nearby trashcan, Naruto waited to see if the Uchiha would leave. He didn't, he turned his attention to staring at Naruto.

"Why didn't you leave?" Naruto demanded, though much calmer than before. "I can guess why you wanted to leave, but why didn't you?"

Sasuke was silent, his expression thoughtful. "I'm not sure. I honestly don't know what compelled me to stay. Sakura was talking to me... I won't get in to specifics, ask her if you're so interested. But something she said must have struck a cord."

"What did she say?"

"Didn't I just tell you to ask her?" Sasuke questioned, a little humored.

"About the Cursed Seal," Naruto said abruptly. Sasuke didn't seem the least bit surprised he knew, despite having told Sakura on several occasions not to mention it. "How bad is it?"

"It can be a bit of a hassle at times... But I'm fine," Sasuke replied. He stood, beginning to walk away.

"_Yo_, Sasuke!" Naruto called. "You ever need to use that thing, use it! Nobody cares! Got it?"

Sasuke continued walking, and smiled. "Yeah, right."

- END OF FLASHBACK -

_If nobody cares..._ thought Sasuke.

The Cursed Seal began to spread, covering Sasuke's left arm, but also crawled up his neck and the left side of his face. Sasuke rolled forward before planting his hands to the ground, springing up upside down and crashing his feet into Maji's chest. Maji wrapped his left arm around Sasuke's legs and thrusting his right palm at Sasuke.

"_**Zankuuha**_!"

Sasuke exclaimed in pain from the pressure released, especially with Maji's proximity. Sasuke was slammed into the ground, his head almost busting open. He clutched at the back of his head to feel blood, and he was seeing stars.

_Sasuke-kun..._ thought Sakura, who was sitting up against the boulder she had been slammed into -- she still couldn't get up. _Dammit, no..._

_Dumb bastard..._ thought Naruto, who was quickly losing consciousness. _If you get captured, I swear I'm going to kill you..._ And then he blacked out.

Sasuke groaned in effort, and the Cursed Seal spread to the rest of his face -- stretching across his chest and coating his right arm. It crawled down his torso, covering his legs. He had reached the full Level One Cursed Seal.

Sasuke snapped up, bending at the hip with Maji still holding his shins/calves. Sasuke threw a haymaker into Maji's face, forcing him to release the Uchiha -- though he remained in place.

Sasuke planted his hands to the ground and bent his knees before crashing both heels into Maji's chin, sending him skyward. Sasuke flipped, landing on his feet. He gathered the purple Cursed Seal Chakra into his legs and launched himself up, using Shadow Leaf Dance to fly behind Maji, his left index and middle fingers touching Maji's back to stay connected via Chakra.

"Here it comes," Sasuke smiled.

Sasuke grabbed Maji and spun him -- Sasuke used the momentum to spin himself, extending his left leg and smashing it into Maji's right side. His right fist snapped out, smashing Maji in the face, making him descend even faster. Sasuke spun and smashed his fist into Maji's chest, sending him down even faster. Sasuke flipped and crashed his heel into Maji's metal-plated forehead (which produced a sound similar to a hammer striking an anvil) as Maji hit the ground, and Sasuke heard a sick crunch.

"_**Shishi Rendan**_!" Sasuke barked.

Maji yelled in pain, the bandages covering his mouth were soaked with blood as he coughed up blood. Maji's stomach quickly healed, and his skull repaired itself -- without his forehead protector, his brain would have splattered everywhere. Maji thrust both hands at Sasuke.

"_**Zankuuha**_!" The two hands, both at 100-precent air waves, let loose a blast of pressure at Sasuke -- but Sasuke dodged with his enhanced speed. _Dammit... Only barely made it, the cell drug is out,_ thought Maji.

_Good thing my ninja sandals have plated heels... But I don't have much Chakra left..._ thought Sasuke, who was breathing hard from the exertion. _Even with the Cursed Seal, I can't keep fighting like this... But that cell production drug should be gone by now... One more Chidori and I can finish this..._

Sasuke made three hand seals and held out his left hand, clutching at his left wrist. Lightning Chakra surrounded his hand, and he launched himself forward. Maji saw him coming and made a hand seal -- and the sky-blue liquid was injected into his body. Sasuke saw Chakra suddenly surge through Maji (via Sharingan), so it must have been some kind of Chakra-producing drug.

Maji made a few hand seals and thought, _Both hands: Air waves: 200-percent; Sound waves: 0-percent... If this doesn't immobilize him... Hopefully it won't kill him._ Maji thrust both hands at Sasuke, gathering as much Chakra as possible into both arms.

"Oh, shit," Sasuke mumbled, but he didn't slow down or dodge -- it's almost impossible to suddenly change direction at the speed Chidori made.

"**Ultimate**_**Zankuuha**_!" Maji roared, unleashing a torrent. It tore into the ground, like a giant drill passing through. Maji couldn't see Sasuke at all due to the size of the blast, and all the kicked up dirt, but Sasuke had been running straight at him when Maji fired.

"..."

"Jeez, you guys can't do anything," Riddin said, looking down at Sasuke. He had a white bandana across his forehead, the Yoshimitsu symbol in black in the center. "Remind me why I hired you..."

"What the hell just happened?" Sasuke mumbled, the Cursed Seal retreating back to the mark. He clutched at his shoulder, and saw a large indentation in the ground in front of Maji -- Riddin must have woken up (who couldn't after all the yelling?) and gotten Sasuke out of the way at top speed.

"Well, you were about to get your ass blown back to the ocean," Riddin replied, jerking his thumb eastward. "So I moved you. Now, where are the others?"

"Do you understand what's going on?" Sasuke hissed, unable to move. "We're under attack, you idiot!"

"Huh? Yeah, I figured that much out, Uchiha," Riddin replied, furrowing his brow. "You gave that guy a few good hits, so he should be easy to take out by now. This guy's body should have given out by now..."

Riddin glanced over his shoulder to see Maji sprinting at, oddly enough, Rayn. Maji pulled a kunai from his holster, looking like he was ready to dice the crap out of Rayn. The drugs had gone to Maji's mind, making him... well, pretty damn crazy. He was running on the thought of 'capture Sasuke, kill everything else that moves,' and Rayn had poked her head out of the tent. Which requires movement, boys and girls.

"Damn," Sasuke groaned, trying to get up but failing. "None of us are in fighting condition... Yoshimitsu, do you think she can-?... Yoshimitsu?" Riddin was gone.

_Please let me make it!_ Riddin thought desperately, using all the Chakra he could into his legs -- he was making and using so much Chakra, it actually hurt.

Rayn's eyes went wide and hurried out of the tent when Maji screamed, "_**Zankuuha**_!" and the tent blew away. Maji made a few hand seals to readjust to 100-percent sound. He used the bandages around his arm, which were unraveled up to his shoulder, and captured Rayn. He kept running and slashed awkwardly, and Rayn threw her arms out in defense, and her forearm was cut open.

"!" The Chakra switched from yellow to white. Riddin's eyes widened, now golden instead of brown with the pupils much larger than normal. Riddin's hair stood on end, the spikes that were his bangs becoming untidy. He left deeper footprints in the dirt, the strides becoming longer -- he was bounding almost a yard a step. His canines became longer, a thin line of black outlining his lips. His nails on both his fingers and toes lengthened, sharpening into little daggers, and actually turned the black of a wolf's nails.

Maji slashed again, but his hand suddenly stopped before he could actually cut Rayn again. A very strong grip was holding his wrist, and it kept tightening. Maji heard an animalistic panting, a bit of a growl in each exhale.

"I'll _kurushu yu_," Riddin growled, though he was somewhat quiet. "_Anai'areitu.._. you." (Note: Un-italicized is translated Japanese, italicized is English from a Japanese perspective. So, you should know what he's saying throughout.)

"?" Maji tried pulling his hand away from Riddin, but the boy's grip only intensified. Maji aimed his palm at Riddin. "**Zankuuha**!" (Decapitating Air Waves)

Nothing happened. Well, Maji released 0-percent air waves and 100-percent sound waves, but Riddin did not react in the least. His ears began to bleed, but it didn't seem to phase him -- steam actually billowed from deep inside Riddin's ears after the blood.

"I'll show you_..._" Riddin growled softly. He then cocked his head left and right, speaking in an annoying way, "'Zankuuha.'"

"?" Maji grinded his teeth together, thoroughly annoyed with this guy. Maji let loose another attack, but Riddin's grip only grew tighter.

"**Fuuton: Kihou**," Riddin growled, soft again. He released Maji and blazed through the hand seals, and then thrust his palm directly in front of Maji's face, and Maji experienced a sucking sensation. It was like the air itself was being drawn toward the boy's hand. Riddin tilted his head, his neck cracking, and he grinned evilly. "_Bai-bai_," he said in a high, mocking voice -- and then unleashed the Wind attack on Maji. It was like a punch to the face, over and over again, as the wind pressure sent him meters back.

"_Rein_," Riddin said softly, approaching the wounded Rayn. "_Aru yu okei_?"

Sasuke blinked stupidly, trying to make sense of what was happening. Riddin was faster, and his Chakra was now white. His Wind Release: Air Cannon was about 150-percent stronger: that's what the attack was, Sasuke recognized it with Sharingan. The odd thing was what Riddin was saying. He wasn't speaking the dialect he normally did -- he was using sounds Sasuke was not familiar with, too. He also put odd stress on some of the syllables. (Note: In Japanese, there is no stress on syllables. There is in English)

Riddin gently touched Rayn's wound, and she made a small gasp. Riddin's fingers slowly trailed across the wound, the white Chakra breathing out and sealing it, steam mixing with the mist-like Chakra, the two almost indistinguishable.

Riddin then focused back on Maji, who was slowly standing, not understanding what was going on. The kid was speaking gibberish, and then the kid pummeled him with a Wind Release.

The kid was suddenly in front of him, a misty white Chakra coming off of him. Riddin slammed his free fist into Maji's stomach, and the Sound nin doubled over in pain, blood splattering his bandages over his mouth again. Riddin scratched his left thumb with his middle finder, and he grabbed the yellow needle -- the one that hadn't been used yet.

"Now... what happens when I do this?" Riddin asked evilly, making a _Henshin Wa _on the tip of the needle's hammer with the 'wound' on his thumb. .

Unseen to Maji, the yellow liquid in his last needle turned white -- Riddin had transformed it. Riddin pressed down the hammer of the needle, injecting Maji with the altered liquid. Maji gritted his teeth, wondering why the boy had just injected him with the yellow solution.

"Uh-argh..." Maji was suddenly left breathless. Instead of the usual sensation he felt from this drug, it felt like liquid fire was coursing through his veins. "Er... AAARGHHH!!!" Maji began screaming in pain, and Riddin simply smirked.

"The Wind Release was _foa Sasuke-kun_. The punch was forNaruto. _Da poisen wasu _for Sakura-hime," Riddin growled, constantly switching dialects.

Riddin cut open his right palm and the wound shifted into a five-pointed _Henshin Wa_ with the kanji for 'bomb.' Riddin ripped away Maji's forehead protector, and then the bandages over his forehead to reveal his pale, shiny dome.

"_An sisu_..." Riddin then pressed his bloodied palm to Maji's forehead. Maji was in enough pain before from the poison, but now his body was shrinking, condensing, and flattening. His skin took on a papery look, and he just kept shrinking until he was an explosive tag in Riddin's fist.

"_Izu foa injurin Rein_." Riddin dropped Maji, the explosive tag, and began walking for camp. He made and a hand seal and said, "Now die. _**BAKU**_!!" (Explode)

The explosive tag exploded, spraying blood everywhere. A _lot_ of blood everywhere. Sakura's -- and even Sasuke's -- stomach churned a little at that.

"You wanna fight, Kajiya?!" Riddin roared, and Sasuke actually winced from the sheer force behind it. Sasuke ran out of Chakra, and his Sharingan ended. Right before Sasuke lost consciousness from exhaustion, he heard Riddin scream, "_Burin itu on_!"

Sakura's vision was blurry -- she had hit her head when she crashed into the boulder, and she had lost some blood. She would be alright, though, as the wound had clotted. She saw Riddin deck the Sound guy, do something, and then the guy screamed. He shrank the guy into an explosive tag, and exploded it. Then he started screaming at the Kajiya, which made... _no_ sense whatsoever.

But she saw two figures hurry away, and she thought that maybe Riddin had become aware of their presence, despite the fact they had been hiding only seconds before.

"What now, Uncle?" Yokoji muttered. "I managed to plant the tracking Jutsu in the girl's backpack."

"We get my arms healed," Kyouku replied, pissed. "And then we attack these fools. We know where they are headed, it won't be difficult to relocate them."

Sakura looked back at Riddin to see him nod triumphantly, walking back to camp. When he got about half way there, his pace slowed, and his head drooped. But he kept going, and he dragged the now-sleeping Sasuke back to the fire. Sakura noticed that Rayn was doing the same for Naruto.

Riddin approached her, looking like he was about to fall asleep standing. He bent down to pick her up, sliding a hand under her knees and behind her back. He picked her up, and slowly carried her over to the fire. Sakura blinked a few times before simply letting the darkness engulf her, and she faintly felt Riddin set her down before she lost consciousness.

- - -

END OF CHAPTER!

Yang's Notes: Whoa... Maybe I made him too kick-ass, but... that came out, like... exactly how I wanted it to. Please don't got all "Gary-Stu" on me -- Maji's body was exhausted by the time Riddin came out to 'play.' Plus the fact that the guy's a frickin' Jinchuuriki -- nobody would have had a problem if it was a seven-year-old Gaara pwning a squad of Jounin.

From the beginning, I wanted Riddin to do this thing where he transforms the enemy into a marble or something, and crushed them. But the cracks would damage the _Henshin Wa_, so I tried a different tactic. I blew him up, instead.

After I created the Maji character, and his needles, I got this great mental image of a somewhat-psycho Riddin injecting Maji with some poison after altering one of Maji's needles.

Let's see... Uh... Yes, Riddin was controlled by his Bijuu, who's only 'name' is Ezo -- his species of wolf. And yes, Ezo speaks 'English.' Some may say "that's stupid!" or something like that...But... Why? Only I, you guys, and maybe Riddin and Rayn (I haven't decided yet) understand English. You also have to realize that even in the NARUTO world, it's possible to have multiple dialects -- Kishimoto-sensei never says what's on the continent's map is all there is to it. Plus they don't focus on several countries.

Did I ever mention 'Riddin' and 'Rayn' are essentially foreign names? You can't really write them in kana, and there is of course no kanji for them. There are some double consonants, but 'D' is not among them. However, they used the same kana in all the double consonants, so that's how Riddin writes it. Rayn's kana is 'Re-i-yi-n,' though it could just be 'Re-in' or 'Re-i-n,' as my beta pointed out. I (or rather, Riddin) wanted to include the 'Y.'

So... Next chapter: Maybe some angst (I hate angst, but still, maybe), some sorrow on the OC's part (does that fall under angst?)... Hopefully some humor (Yang likes humor)... _And_ some awesome violence (I like writing fight scenes) between the Yoshimitsu clan, Kajiya clan, and a demon-possessed three-year-old boy (who falls under Yoshimitsu, huh?).


	13. Chapter 13 Yoshimitsu Origins

Yang's Notes: This is the closest there will ever be to filler... I hope. About two-thirds of this chapter is a flashback concerning the OCs (mainly Riddin, since Rayn was a mere infant at the time).

Disclaimer: Psst! I've got a secret! I don't own _NARUTO_! Wait, that's no secret!

- - -

Somewhere, a fire was crackling. That's probably what woke Naruto up. It could have been the searing headache between his ears, or the fact that his entire body felt sore, but the point was he was awake. Naruto realized he was in a tent, and next to him was Sasuke, who was still sleeping.

Naruto looked at his hands as he clenched his fists. "Guess I heal a bit faster," Naruto mumbled to himself, shifting for the tent's door-flap. He pushed it aside, slowly exiting and stretching, taking in his surroundings.

It was early morning, but it was chilly -- luckily Naruto already had his jacket on. There was a pot (that almost looked like a small sink) of water over a small fire, but Naruto wasn't sure where the hell the pot came from -- and it didn't have Riddin's _Henshin Wa_ on it.

Sitting by the fire was Sakura and Rayn, though they were facing away from him and did not seem to know he was awake. Sakura was lying on her back, her head in another water-filled pot-sink -- Naruto thought it looked like the kind barber shops or beauty salons use to wash the clients' hair. Rayn was sitting directly behind Sakura, her back to Naruto, and she seemed to be washing Sakura's hair.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, walking over, rubbing at his half-shut eyes.

"Sakura-chan's hair is caked with blood," Rayn explained. "So I'm using hot water to get it out."

Naruto nodded absentmindedly. "So... what happened, anyway? I kinda blacked out, hihi," he finished with a nervous chuckle.

"_Ani_ saved the day!" Rayn said brightly. Sakura stared at Rayn in an annoyed, 'I don't think so' way. "...After Sasuke-kun pretty much leveled the opponent, though."

"Oh, cool," Naruto grinned. "Where's that guy now?"

The girls both pointed at a large puddle of blood a good twenty meters from the campsite, the ground it was on looked as if it was recently upturned. Or it had suffered a small bombing. Naruto sweat-dropped.

"Riddin is still sleeping," Sakura added. "Which is weird, since he doesn't have a scratch on him. I thought he'd be up and at it around dawn."

"He'll be up when he stops dreaming," Rayn assured, getting up to pour out the bloodied water and begin to use the pot that was on the fire. "Ignore the growling, it's him."

"?" Both Genin rose an eyebrow, confused.

Naruto, his curiosity aroused, walked over to the tent and peaked inside. Riddin was grasping at the sheets, chewing on his pillow, jerking his head back like an animal would to rip meat from bone, though he never ripped the pillow. There was a deep, though quiet growl resonating from his throat.

- - -

"...Daddy? Where we goin'?" a three-year-old Riddin asked his father, riding on his shoulders.

Riddin's hair was buzzed along the sides and in the back, but the hair on his crown was about an inch long and sticking up everywhere. Riddin was a pale child, wearing a green t-shirt that was one size too big, the same for his shorts. Riddin was holding a teddy bear named Ryuuzaki -- his mother had made it for him, he had had it since he was born. Or at least that's what his father said, Riddin had never met his mother.

"They have medicine for you at the compound now," replied Riddin's thirty-year-old father. After all these years, his father's name eluded Riddin. He had known long ago, but this entire experience was a blur to Riddin while awake -- he only saw it in dreams, and never remembered the dreams when he woke up. "We can finally go home."

Riddin's father was a pretty tall man, standing at 6'1". He bore a blue shirt with the Yoshimitsu insignia -- which was a large dot surrounded by a circle, which in turn was surrounded by a plus-shaped crosshairs, with an x-shaped crosshairs around that. His pants were dirt brown, and pretty beat up. The hair on his crown was several inches long, and was sticking up everywhere -- the rest of the hair on his head was shaved down to a buzz.

"'Compound'?" Riddin echoed, closing one eye thoughtfully. "Wazzat?"

"Where the rest of the clan is," his father replied. "There's around a hundred or so of us. Your grandparents, your cousins, your mother, and your sister."

"I have a mom and sister?!" Riddin exclaimed, and his father winced due to the proximity. "No way! Is that where you go once a month?"

"Yeah, to go check up on the family. Your sister is only a few months old, she's your younger sister. That means you're an older brother. Do you know what that means?"

"...I have to beat up boys when she gets older?" Riddin guessed -- that's what Kiyaro (a 15-year-old Rock Chuunin) did whenever someone talked to Chikako (a 14-year-old Rock Genin). At least that's what Riddin's friend Kimiko (four-year-old girl) said.

Riddin's father laughed. "No... You have to protect her."

"..." Riddin scrunched up his face. "Same difference."

Father laughed even louder at that. (I'll just say 'Father' from here on.) They exited the gates of Iwakagure, the Hidden Rock village. This particular village had pretty good medicine, or at the very least it had the necessary ingredients for Riddin's medicine. It never occurred to Riddin that Iwakgure was his beneficiary, the source of the Gobi. Not that he knew about the Gobi to begin with.

Despite warring conflicts during the current Great Ninja War, the two of them had managed to get from the Land of Mountains to Earth Country safe. Father had brought Riddin as an infant, and had raised him in the ninja village.

- - -

"I see it!" Riddin beamed, still clutching at his teddy bear -- it was about a week after they had left Iwakagure. Riddin was wearing the same clothes as they left -- the clothes had been washed the other day. "It's that tree, right?"

"Yep!" Father nodded.

"It's a tree house! Hihihi," Riddin exclaimed, giggling. "Does everybody really live in there?"

"Only the 'upper levels,'" Father replied. "The clan leaders, the elders... All the geezers, basically. The rest of us live _under_ the tree."

"...Isn't it dark?" Riddin asked, hugging his bear even more -- Riddin didn't like the dark when he was a kid.

"No, don't worry," Father chuckled. "We keep it well lit."

"So... how come we live in-er, _under_ a tree?" Riddin asked, looking up at his father. He now recognized the signs of fatigue in his father's eyes, brought on by the stress of raising a son alone. _Well, now he won't have to_, Riddin thought brightly.

Father shrugged. "I've heard it has something to do with finding something in the tree," he replied. "The clan way back then settled into parts of the tree -- where the geezers now live. As time progressed and we expanded, we dug underground."

"We're mole-people!" Riddin exclaimed, running for the tree -- only to trip. "Ow!"

"C'mon," Father chuckled, picking Riddin up by the shirt and setting him down. Riddin rubbed his forehead before running forward, making sure not to trip again.

- - -

"..." Riddin sweat-dropped. There was no doorway, no tunnel. The tree looked like one, big tree. That was it -- though Riddin marveled at its size, it was as big as the Tsuchikage's tower! Father cocked his head, staring between two roots of the tree.

"I know it's here somewhere," Father murmured. "Eight to the right, twenty up..."

Father slapped his palm to the tree's trunk, his hand coated with Chakra. A circlet of strange symbols lit up in white around Father's hand. Tendrils of symbols snaked from the circle, eventually twisting to the right, forming a square to the right of the circle. The square, and the wood inside it, seemed to sink into the circle.

"_Sugoi_!" Riddin exclaimed, his eyes bright. (Cool) Father had sealed some of the wood away to reveal a hallway line with cement, torches lighting it. "Dad! That's awesome!"

"Yeah," Father grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Let's go!"

- - -

The two Yoshimitsu males walked for a minute or so, and found themselves staring at a cement wall. There was no door-seal like the secret entrance, but there was a speaker on the left side of the wall, at about Riddin's height.

"Business?" asked a deep male voice, coming from the speaker. There was a muffled snicker, and a "LOOK!" in a woman's voice.

"I think you can guess," Father said, grinning. He was looking up at the corner of the ceiling and wall, there was probably a camera hidden there. "Brought Riddin!"

"...Jeez, he looks just like you," the male chuckled. "Riddin!"

"What?" Riddin said loudly, looking at the speaker. "Who're you!?"

"I'm your uncle, Yoshimitsu Ryousuke!" the male said proudly. "I'm your dad's little brother!"

"..." Riddin looked up at his father. "You have a brother?! I have an uncle!?"

Father chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Listen, Riddin, just try to keep exclamations to yourself. We have to go to the elders, and you need to act refined."

"..." Riddin stared blankly. "Wha?"

"Just be quiet and stand up straight," Father explained, and the cement wall in front of them slid to the left, revealing a massive room the size of a warehouse.

Spiraling staircases carved from the wood of the tree led to the various other levels, and the roots apparently had been hallowed out to make tunnels leading to the lower levels. Several signs were above the various tunnels or hammered to the staircases to indicate where they led. But Riddin only knew some kana and a few letters, he did not know any kanji. Several people were walking from area to area, but not many -- a dozen at the most.

"Come on," Father said, picking up his pace as he walked for the biggest staircase. Riddin hurried after him, making sure not to trip this time. The staircase led to the very top of the tree, so it took a few minutes to get to the top -- especially with Riddin's short legs. The clan's leaders had a large building at the top of the tree, though it wasn't actually _in_ the tree. Riddin gulped when he realized how high they were -- another fear of his, heights.

"Alright, kiddo, you ready?" Father asked, kneeling down and putting his broad hands on Riddin's scrawny shoulders. Riddin grinned widely and nodded vigorously. Father stood and opened the door, "Come on..."

Riddin walked inside, standing up straight. Several geezers were sitting around a U-shaped table, which was on a podium, so the geezers were looking down at him. Those who still had their natural hair color had brown hair, though the eye colors were varying colors. They were all in brown robes, Kage-looking black hats on their heads.

One old man was staring solely at Riddin, while the others were glancing between Riddin and his father. Riddin noticed this gaze, and felt a chilling feeling in his stomach. Riddin grasped at his stomach, looking up at the old man in confusion.

He reminded Riddin of the red-haired old man from Iwakagure. Riddin never understood how an old man like him could still have such fiery red hair, how a geezer could still be so strong. He had a beard and mustache, a strange thick streak of black covering the bridge of his nose and cheeks. He wasn't aware of the man's name, so he just called him, 'Shibi-Jijii.' He had heard people refer to him as _Yonbi_, but '_shibi_' rhymed with '_jijii_.' (Yonbi and Shibi both mean Four-tails, Jijii means old man or grandfather)

"And who is this?" an old lady asked, cocking her head.

"This is my son, Riddin," Father replied politely, his hands behind his back. "The clan now has the materials for his medicine, so I've brought him home."

The old lady nodded absentmindedly, as if she hadn't really been listening. She looked at Riddin, who was not paying any attention -- he was still focusing on the old man, who was now looking at something on his desk. The old lady cleared her throat, but Riddin didn't react.

"Riddin?" the old lady said, gathering his attention. "Do you have anything to say?"

"..." Riddin stared up at her for a few seconds, biting down on his tongue thoughtfully. The old lady waited patiently until something occurred to Riddin. "Where's my mom and sister?"

The council chuckled, and Riddin looked around in a confused way. He didn't understand why that was so funny. His gaze rested back on the old man that made his stomach chilly, and the sensation hit him again.

- - -

Riddin made a pouting face, hugging his teddy bear. "Watcha mean she ain't here?" he demanded of some woman, who was in a nurse outfit. She was watching over a nursery of sorts, though only one child was inside.

"Aimi is not here right now," the nurse repeated, looking over at Father pleadingly. "Akane is here, though. Would you like to see her?"

"..." Riddin looked up at his father. "Who's Akane?"

"You're sister," Father replied with a smile. "You should hurry up and learn it."

"Eh..." Riddin made a face. "That name's dumb. It's too hard to remember."

"What's so hard about 'Akane'?" the nurse demanded, but Riddin ignored her and put all his weight into the door, pushing it open. Riddin approached the sleeping baby, crouching down, quite close.

Father grinned at his son's actions, entering the room. He crouched down and put a hand on Riddin's shoulder. Riddin was staring down at Akane, oddly silent. He then looked at his father.

"Can I wake `er up?" Riddin whispered. Father smiled and nodded. Riddin reached out and poked Akane's cheek. "Oi! _Imouto_! Wake up!" he whispered.

Akane made a face, and began to scream. Riddin furrowed his brow, wincing, and put his index finger to Akane's lips.

"Boy, you can't do that!" the nurse hissed.

Akane suddenly stopped, staring up at Riddin. "Stop screaming," Riddin ordered. "It's annoying." Akane just stared at him, her gray eyes wide. She reached out, grasping at air. She then grabbed Riddin's black nose. And then she giggled.

Riddin grinned up at his father when Akane released him. "I like her!"

- - -

The next day, Riddin was laying back on a branch, alone, just enjoying the afternoon air -- and trying to gain some color, so he was shirtless and in his boxers. He had initially experienced vertigo from the height, but he got over it once he laid back and just stared at the sky.

He heard some yelling from down below, and cautiously approached the edge of the branch. He squinted and managed to see a woman sprinting for the tree. She had long brown hair, and a mixture of white and black clothes.

Riddin cocked his head at the woman. She seemed familiar... how? Riddin wasn't sure, but he felt like he knew the woman. She was definitely Yoshimitsu, at the very least. Unfortunately, he was on the third level, so there was no way he'd be able to get down in time to see who she was before she went wherever she was going.

"!" Riddin's brown eyes widened when a metal spear launched itself from the denser foliage surrounding the giant tree, and it nearly impaled the woman, but she managed to swerve right and it only cut open her left bicep.

Riddin backpedaled, frantically grabbing his shorts, completely ignoring his shirt. He sprinted for the entrance into the tree, though he's three so he's not exactly going fast. He put all his weight into opening the door, frantically looking for an adult. He saw none, so went with the alternative: scream.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" he yelled as loud as possible. "There's some lady outside! She's hurt!"

Riddin could faintly hear feet stampeding downstairs. He hurried for the railing, and looked down. Everyone on the first, second, and even third floor was hurrying for the entrance -- people were actually jumping the railing, falling down the floors before running for the entrance.

"?" Riddin figured a few people would jog or walk for the entrance, not have everyone within earshot sprint. Who was this lady? She was expected -- that meant she was definitely a Yoshimitsu.

"Riddin!" Father called from the first floor. He was carrying a funky-looking thingy made of what was probably iron, and it looked sharp. (Fuuma!) He also had a flak jacket on, the back reading 'Yoshimitsu Raiden' in hiragana. "Go get Akane! Stay with her, no matter what! Do not leave the room after you get there!"

"Raiden, hurry up!" a man yelled frantically, looking back at Father.

"Ezo!" Father -- Raiden -- suddenly yelled. "Protect the children!"

No one responded, but Riddin's stomach felt chilly again. Riddin grabbed at his stomach before running for the stairs, figuring 'Ezo' must be a funny way to say 'God.'

- - -

"Oi, _Imouto_!" Riddin exclaimed, bursting into the daycare center. He heard a funny giggle, and his attention snapped to the source -- Akane was in a basket of sorts, wrapped in various white blankets, holding Riddin's bear -- which he had let her borrow. Riddin hurried over and sat next to her, crossing his legs and staring at the only door.

- - -

The sounds of battle did not reach Riddin's ears deep in the complex, especially with the thick door shut. He did not hear the clangs of steel, the explosions, the screams. He just heard his baby sister cooing next to him. He wondered why his sister was the only one in here. Over the various weeks, some other children had also been in here.

_I guess our mom is the only one gone right now_, Riddin thought, hugging his knees.

"!" The door suddenly burst open, revealing Raiden. He was bleeding from the stomach pretty badly, and blood caked the left side of his face. Riddin stared blankly, his brain locking up.

"Riddin..." Raiden groaned. "Pencil, paper..."

Riddin sprang up, frantically looking for what his father asked. He found a clipboard with various blank papers with a pencil next to it, and had to jump up to reach it from the counter. He hurried over and gave them to his father.

Raiden frantically wrote down a message, signing it in letters instead of the usual kana, using 'Ryden' instead of 'Raiden.' Riddin stared at the name for a moment until he registered Ryden thrusting the paper into Riddin's hands.

"Take that... and go to... Kumokagure," Ryden panted. (Hidden Cloud)

"Uh... okay, but where is... Kumako...eh?" Riddin asked, confused as he stuffed the paper into his pocket.

"Ezo will take you most of the way," Ryden said, making hand seals. A lot of hand seals. And then Ryden put his fingers to Riddin's stomach. Riddin was stunned to see a faint spiral with several designs surrounded it, the center of the spiral ending at his belly button. He wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed to be the source of the chilly feeling. The designs seemed to be reacting the hand seals Ryden's Jutsu. The designs pulsed and became fully visible.

Riddin began to yell, causing Akane to cry from the noise. Riddin stood stock-still, straight up, all his muscles tightening. Ryden was opening up the seal.

Ryden coughed up blood and collapsed, landing on the side of his face so he could watch Riddin. Riddin's brown eyes were wide open, and shifted to gold as his pupils increased in size. His nails lengthened and sharpened, his canine teeth turning into long fangs. A circlet of white appeared on the floor, evidence of the Chakra pouring from the boy's body. Riddin fell on all fours, the ground cracking when his hands hit the floor. Steam rose as all the little cuts and bruises Riddin had from being a bit of a klutz healed over in seconds. Riddin was panting, still in pain, as white mist poured from his body.

A Kajiya man, who had followed Ryden's trail of blood, hurried into the room. The Kajiya man saw the dead man, the baby, and the kid. The kid was freaking the hell out, staring at the ground and screaming. Maybe the dead guy was his dad. But it didn't matter, the boy was going to die, too. The boy suddenly reached out, his nails freakishly sharp and black for some reason, and he moved the baby's blankets so the baby's head was covered.

The boy looked up at him, and grinned evilly, blood dripping from his mouth. His mouth was much larger than it should have been, almost reading the corner of his jaw -- his teeth all sharp, his canines especially. He lifted his right hand lifted, pointing the palm at the Kajiya. White wisps of Chakra lowered from the boy's sleeves, in small amounts.

Riddin's head then drooped. The pain of it all had knocked him out. The strange thing was, his grin became even wider in his sleep. The white Chakra shot from his sleeve, quickly coating his arm and hand -- creating a hand/claw. Riddin had just 'grown' an 'arm' of the White Chakra.

The arm lengthened and crashed into the Kajiya, pummeling him through the wall. Riddin whimpered in his sleep as another arm grew from his left arm. The white Chakra snaked from his shorts, creating human-looking feet. The white Chakra continued to spread until he was completely covered by the wolf armor, five white tails swishing behind him. The entire thing was the size of a small horse, the little sleeping three-year-old in the center.

The mini-Gobi barreled through the wall, slashing his tails around. He turned, and saw several Kajiya ninja. White Chakra ears appeared, but they flattened in a threatening way. The white Chakra changed even more, creating an actual wolf -- Riddin was no longer visible.

Ezo roared, the hallway shattering in the direction of the enemies. The concrete rained down with enough speed to cut into them like shrapnel, the Chakra-laced roar cutting at their skin, pillowing their clothes. Then the mini-Bijuu barreled down the hall.

- - -

It was raining several hours later. Riddin was sitting in a rock formation. He was shielded from the rain, the basket containing his baby sister and his teddy bear next to him. Next to that was a backpack filled with money and his medicine. Next to that was a large box that resembled an ice chest, which he had yet to open.

He didn't really remember anything beyond his father dying, he had just woken up a few minutes ago in the shelter. He wasn't sure why, but he somehow knew everybody else was dead, too. His parents were dead -- the lady that had been attacked outside was his mother. He had no idea why he knew that. Actually, a lot of things he didn't know before was flooding in. Like the meaning of letters and various kana, as well as a few kanji. Or that the old man that had given his chills had something to do with the white stuff from before he passed out.

Speaking of the white stuff, it had left him exhausted. His vision kept flickering, dimming so that he could only hear the patter of rain before his bleak surroundings came back into focus. His body ached, and it hurt to move much. He wouldn't be able to do any traveling today, or the next day, or the next day after that.

His sister began to coo, she was waking up. He looked down at her emptily, wondering how he was going to take care of her.

_Dad had said to go to Kinokoregu... No... Komugureka... No..._ thought Riddin. She cooed, reaching out or him. He smiled through his tears and sat next to her, and she reached out and grasped his black nose. She released him suddenly, staring at her wet hand -- his tears had gotten on her a little.

"Okay... Ah..." Riddin blinked. What was her name? He only called her by '_Imouto_' all the time. "What was your name?" he breathed, letting her hold his finger.

Her attention turned to the rain falling just outside the rock formation. She giggled and reached out with her free hand, as if trying to grasp the rain.

"You like rain, huh?" Riddin smiled. "_Ame_... Maybe that was it."

"**Try '**_**rain**_**,'"** said a deep voice. Riddin looked around, but there was nobody there. **"It's spelled R-A-I-N."** Somehow, Riddin got pictures of each letter in his mind as the voice said them. (Note: Bijuu is speaking English)

"That's dumb," Riddin mumbled. "That read as Rye-n... Right?"

"**No, it's said '**_**rein**_**.' But spelled '**_**rain**_**.' It's a different language."**

Riddin drew the letters that was on his father's note with his finger. He didn't have the note anymore, but he would recognize the name of the place if somebody said it. It was a Hidden Village, Riddin figured that much.

"Dad spelled his name with this symbol-" Pointing to 'Y'- "Instead of 'ai.'" Riddin rubbed away the 'ai' of 'Rain' to spell 'Ryn.' "That looks dumb. How do you say 'ai' in that language?"

"**With the letter, or word, '**_**I**_**.'"**

Riddin wrote 'R-A-I-N' in the dirt again. He then turned the 'I' into a 'Y.' He then wrote his father's name the way it was written on the flak jacket, in hiragana. He didn't know how to write the '_re_' or '_yi_' kana, though. Neither did Ezo, apparently, because the answer didn't just bubble into his mind. He'd have to figure that out when he got to Kamaka-... the place Dad said to go.

"Your name is Rayn from here on," Riddin said to his baby sister. She smiled, so he figured she liked it. He stared out at the rain, wondering what the source of the deep voice was, or where the memories came from. "My name is Riddin, I'm your big brother..."

Rayn was still holding Riddin's finger, and she stuck it in her mouth, sucking on it. He giggled at that, and she smiled around his digit. Riddin wiped at his wet eyes, looking out at the rain.

"I gotta protect you," he said softly, his voice cracking. "That's my 'purpose,' I guess." Recalling his thoughts that the entity his father had called, 'Ezo,' must be a god, Riddin said. "Ezo will look over us, too." Riddin looked up at the sky, "Right, Ezo?"

"**Right."**

- - -

"!" Riddin awoke to find his pillow in his mouth. He spit it out, sitting up. His head hurt, and images from his dream was swimming through his mind. They all seemed to swirl, sinking into an abyss. And then it was all gone.

Unperturbed by the loss of his dreams, Riddin reached over and grabbed his rucksack, opening it up. He smiled fondly at one of the contents before shutting the rucksack and hugging it, going back to sleep.

"Sleep tight, Ryuuzaki..." he murmured.

- - -

Yang's Notes: There we go. Hopefully there won't be much talk of their past anymore. I'm not saying there won't be references later, I probably will stop talking about it much, though.

Um... Did you get that last line? When I originally created Riddin (holy crap he went through a lot of changes) I didn't have anything like that planned, but I read some OC guides and made some edits to his character: Like Ryuuzaki, how he seems to not want full-on help (he wouldn't let Sakura help him walk), and a few traits later shown during what I guess will be considered an 'epilogue.'

I have a few ideas for the next few chapters, but I'm not sure which to go with. I honestly started this fanfiction with only two things I wanted FOR SURE: They meet the Gobi Jinchuuriki (checkmark, got that) and... well, it involves Naruto and a fight scene.


	14. Chapter 14 Konoha & Yoshimitsu vs Oto

Disclaimer: Psst! I've got a secret! I don't own _NARUTO_! Wait, that's no secret!

- - -

It was early afternoon, the day after the fight with Maji. Sasuke had woken up a short time after Sakura's hair had dried, and after a small breakfast they all headed out. They had been traveling since then. Nothing that exciting, really.

"..." Riddin looked up from his book, _Icha Icha Violence_(an earlier novel, I think), when Sasuke abruptly stopped. They were in the middle of a forest near Konoha, though the area around them was a bit of a clearing. Naruto noticed the Uchiha had stopped as well, and the blonde looked around. Sakura and Rayn had been talking, and stopped because the others did.

"What's going on?" Riddin asked, noting the page and shutting the book. He slid it back into his rucksack, looking anxious for a fight. "Are the Kajiya back or something?"

"No," Sasuke said flatly. "Sakura, take the clients and get outta here. Now."

"Wha-what?! Why?!" Sakura demanded. "I can fight, too! I-"

"Sakura," Sasuke interjected, oddly patient with her. He looked back at her out of the corner of his eye. "Just go. Naruto and I will catch up."

"We are sticking together!" Riddin said suddenly, clapping his hands together. The ninja blinked dimly before looking at him. He grinned, "I need to lose some steam!" One must wonder if he means energy or the Five-Tails' white Chakra.

"You'll die," Sasuke said flatly.

Riddin looked skeptical, his mouth becoming a thin line, pulling at the left side of his lips. He glared at Sasuke for a moment, but then he seemed to put some thought into the next thing he said, "If we risk running we'll just lose some energy when we'll probably end up fighting, anyway. What's the point of losing energy, when the enemy could be super-powerful? Everyone needs to be at 100-percent. We all are, I think. So..." He broke out in a wide grin again, "Who and where is the enemy?"

"They call themselves the Sound Four," Sasuke replied. "Obviously, there's four-"

"Found `em," Rayn said, pointing at the Sound Four. They were jumping from tree branch to tree branch, quickly closing in -- they weren't where Sasuke was looking, as the Uchiha was just guessing at their location. The four of them hit the ground and began running for them.

Riddin's eyes went wide. "Does that guy have two heads? And does that guy have six arms?" Sasuke nodded. Riddin grinned, "That's so cool! _Yosh_, let's go!" Riddin shrugged off his rucksack, but the ninja left theirs on. Riddin shifted through his rucksack before pulling out the white bandana with the Yoshimitsu symbol -- he apparently wore it in fights.

"Yeah!" Rayn exclaimed, pumping her arms.

"No, you stay here," Riddin ordered in a serious voice. He then took off for the Sound ninja. The Leaf sweat-dropped and the boys hurried after him, leaving Sakura to protect a pouting Rayn. "I got the guy with two heads!"

"Then I got the six-armed guy!" Naruto yelled, making a hand seal. "_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!" Naruto and his four Shadow Clones continued running, sliding to a stop so they surrounded Kidomaru -- with Naruto launching into the air.

"**U-Zu-Ma-Ki**!" the Shadow Clones yelled, sliding in to kick Kidomaru up. Kidomaru just grabbed their kicking foot, stopping them in their tracks. "**Naruto** _**Ren**_-" Naruto tried kicking down on Kidomaru's head, but his last two arms just caught Naruto's leg.

"Nice try, kid," Kidomaru smirked. He swung the real Naruto into the Shadow Clones, slightly injuring Naruto and dispersing the Shadow Clones. Kidomaru went through a few hand seals before swishing something in his mouth, still spinning Naruto in the air. Kidomaru hurled Naruto toward a tree, and released a sticky web, which hit Naruto, and then struck a tree -- keeping him pinned.

"Damn... What the...?" Naruto muttered, trying to get free.

Riddin lunged a punch for Sakon's face, only to have Sakon catch his wrist. Irritated, Riddin threw a punch with his left, only to have Sakon catch his fist. Riddin pulled his upper lip back, bearing his teeth. He swung his right leg in a kick, only to have his leg somehow stopped. He kicked with his other leg and was somehow stopped yet again, and now he was in midair with all his limbs forward. He leaned back, drawing his head as far away from Sakon as possible, and Sakon tilted his head to the left. Riddin somehow got socked in the face with two fists at once, and Sakon released him to let Riddin get knocked back a few feet.

"What the hell?!" Riddin roared, rubbing his face. "How'd you do that?!"

Sasuke full-on sprinted for Jirobo, the big guy. Sasuke went through a few hand seals before blasting a fireball at the Sound shinobi. Jirobo stomped down into the ground, and a large rock wall shot from the ground, acting as a shield. Jirobo then picked up the shield and hurled it at Sasuke, who easily dodged.

Sasuke launched himself up, flipping and crashing his heel into the crown of Jirobo's head before the big guy could react. But Jirobo didn't seem fazed, and grabbed Sasuke's extended leg. He swung him upward, and then crashed the Uchiha into the ground. Jirobo dropped his knee for Sasuke, but he managed to roll out of the way.

"New tactic!" Riddin exclaimed. _I wish I hadn't left my Henshin Wa bracelet in the cave... How could I forget my favorite weapon? ...Ah, well. _"If Taijutsu won't work..." He went through a few hand seals, "I have Ninjutsu! _**Fuuton: Kihou**_!" He thrust his palm at Sakon, the attack building up. Sakon scoffed and disappeared, and Riddin whirled around and unleashed the wind blast, effectively socking Sakon in the chest.

Naruto continued to struggle to break through Kidomaru's sticky gunk, but was having no such luck. Kidomaru was currently running through games ideas to play with Naruto, wondering how to make some fun out of the blondes predicament.

Sasuke was not having much luck against Jirobo. He was just too big to get a good hit in, even if Sasuke made contact, Jirobo didn't seem hurt. Sasuke was now using Sharingan, so he was able to avoid Jirobo's counters, but still couldn't really do any damage.

_He uses Earth Release... Chidori has an edge over Earth Release, so... But I only have a few shots... I have to remember I can also use that Wind Release from Yoshimitsu... What does Earth defeat?... Water, right..._

"You should pay more attention!" Jirobo said loudly, lifting a large boulder from the ground. Sasuke internally sweat-dropped at the sheer size of the thing -- it was the size of three horses side-by-side. He subconsciously ran through three hand seals, and became aware of his actions in time to hold out his hand and pump Lightning Chakra into his left hand.

Sasuke launched forward with his left hand held out, diving head-first. He crashed through the bolder and flipped, landing on his feet and sprinting for Jirobo. Jirobo began to swing his fist for Sasuke, and Sasuke ducked under the punch and managed to stab into Jirobo's side, the Chidori had taken a small bite out of Jirobo's stomach.

Jirobo yelled in pain and rammed his knee into Sasuke's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Jirobo then socked him in the face, drawing blood from the nose, cheek, and mouth as well as sending him back a few meters. Jirobo let the Cursed Seal out, and the skin sewed itself back together, steam rising.

_I didn't make the wound big enough,_thought Sasuke. _Four inches to the right and that wouldn't have worked... I just wasted a Chidori. He's a big guy, but he's fast. Now that he's using the Cursed Seal, he'll be even faster..._

"...Weren't there four of them?" Rayn pointed out. "Where's the girl?"

Sakura blinked when she suddenly heard a flute playing. It was a slow, deep tune, but Sakura wasn't sure where it was coming from. Rayn was slowly bobbing her head to the melody, glancing around. "!" They were suddenly in a strange wasteland, the ground made of what looked like red sand.

"Genjutsu," Sakura warned, clapping her hands together. "Even if you can't end it, I'll end it for you."

_This isn't working,_thought Riddin, backpedaling to avoid a barrage of punches from Sakon. _I have about fifteen shots of Air Cannon left, but they're only the strength of a punch or two... ! If I can use the Jutsu in a different way... The attack uses four shots, so I have three practice shots, and can use the attack three times._

Sakon launched a punch, but Riddin was able to duck under it. A leg shot from Sakon's forearm and cracked into Riddin's head, and the Yoshimitsu was seeing stars. Riddin grasped at his head as he scrambled away, trying to get some distance. Riddin ran through the hand seals and clenched his fist, gathering the Chakra into his right hand.

"_**Fuuton: Kihou**_!" Riddin yelled, punching the air. (Wind Release: Air Cannon) He felt the air escape from his palm from between his fingers. Sakon only gritted his teeth, his hair and clothes being swept back; The attack had been weakened. _I either have to release Chakra from my knuckles, which I can't do... Or strike with the base of my palm -- that would be about the equivalent of a fist in some circles._

"Hey, get me outta this thing!" Naruto yelled, agitated. "Sasuke! Riddin! Sakura-chan! Rayn! _Anybody_!"

"Oh, shut up, kid," Kidomaru said, shaking his head. "But I got an idea..." He made a few hand seals and some weird golden stuff came from his mouth. It seemed to harden, and looked like a club with some spiked on it. He made five more, one for each hand. "I'll throw these with my eyes closed."

"!? What the hell?!" Naruto yelled, struggling even more.

"Oh, I'll jump around and move a bit so I won't know where to throw," Kidomaru assured, closing his eyes and spinning around, stopping and walking, spinning and jumping. "But if you keep making that much noise, this game won't be any fun..."

Sasuke managed to get under Jirobo and kicked up with both feet, knocking the big guy up a few feet. Sasuke jumped up after him to go for a Lion Combo, managing to hit the large Sound ninja a few times, but missing the final attack as Jirobo managed to catch Sasuke's leg. Jirobo rolled left, slamming Sasuke into the ground.

_Damn, just what a I need -- a fight against a Genjutsu-type,_thought Tayuya. _And I can't take out the brunette because the pink one will just cancel my Genjutsu. Don't tell me I have to use the Doki already..._ (Angry Spirits -- those big guys she summons)

"Try this one!" Riddin suddenly exclaimed. He went through a few hand seals before shifting his weigh to his left foot. He kicked with his right foot, but came up short. "_**Fuuton: Kihou**_!" Sakon got hit in the stomach, but Riddin was knocked over -- which Sakon took advantage of, rushing forward and nailing him with a sound attack, which sent Riddin flying back a few meters.

_I can't waste any more time or Chakra!_ thought Riddin, who was getting tired from all this dodging. His legs were shaking just from standing! He was tired, but... _What the hell did that last attack do to me?_

"Hmm..." Sakon hummed thoughtfully. "Your bones sure are dense, a nice low sound. I'm sure they're still ringing from that last attack..."

_That's why I'm shaking like this..._thought Riddin. _My bones are rattling... And Air Cannon has a low range the way I'm using it... Damn, nothing I think of is working..._

_There's no point in using the Doki just to take care of these pieces of trash,_ thought Tayuya, who was hiding in a tree behind the girls in the fairly dense forest. _We just need Sasuke... Why are those dumb-asses fighting those two Leaf guys?_(Note: Tayuya is mistaking Riddin and Rayn for Leaf ninja)

"...The melody changed," Rayn said, noticing the different notes. "What she's doing now?"

- - -

Ukon (the sleeping brother, his right eye is visible) blinked dimly when he was face to face with Tayuya. Ukon sat down, not used to standing so suddenly, even in a Genjutsu.

"Well?" Ukon demanded. "What do you want, Tayuya? If that black-nosed kid figures out I can't help, Sakon will be in trouble, so hurry up."

"What the hell are you dumb-asses doing!?" Tayuya demanded. "Fighting those useless pieces of trash! Just capture Sasuke! Force the pill down his throat, and we'll use the barrier and get him to Orochimaru-sama!"

Ukon tilted his head, "But this kid's bones are making some fun noises. Can't we play with them for a while? You could use something to do, couldn't you?"

"Unlike you dumb-shits, I don't feel the need for pointless fights!" Tayuya growled.

"Oh, I understand," Ukon smirked. "You can't beat them with just Genjutsu! That's your problem! The _Doki_ would cause to much commotion like this, so you want to retreat!"

"Look you retarded piece of-" Tayuya began, but Ukon began laughing. "What the hell is so funny?!"

"Just end this stilly Genjutsu, I'll relay the message to Sakon," Ukon said, shaking his head.

"Maybe I'll just have some fun with you for now," Tayuya said, smiling evilly. "Like you said, maybe I should let Sakon have some fun with the black-nosed kid."

- - -

_What the hell is Ukon doing?_Sakon wondered, now relying on only his skills to fight. It was noticeably harder to deal with Kokuhana, and he seemed to be catching on to the fact Ukon was incapacitated. (Kokuhana - Black-nose)

_Now's my chance!_Riddin realized.

Riddin zoomed forward, a blur to the untrained eye. Riddin jumped and began spinning wildly, so to Sakon it looked like a massive wheel was flying at him. Riddin directed Chakra into his right hand and grasped at the ground, the rest of him still spinning, and he crashed his right heel into Sakon's face -- Sakon had no idea where to block.

_Shit, I'm dizzy... How does that dog guy do this?_thought Riddin, who had heard Naruto talk about his match with Kiba -- Riddin had tried copying one of the techniques from the Inuzuka's repetroire, the Piercing Fang Taijutsu move. (The spinning-drill thing)

Riddin planted his left hand and pushed off with both hands, and jabbed both feet into Sakon's back -- the first kick had sent the Sound shinobi spinning. The kick knocked Sakon forward a few steps, which gave Riddin room to turn and land in a crouching position, still dizzy.

Riddin noticed Sakon's arms were out, to try to balance. Riddin rolled until he was on his hands directly behind Sakon, and he kicked up -- right under Sakon's arms. Riddin hooked his knees around Sakon's shoulders, and put all his strength into falling backwards -- lifting Sakon in a backward flip. Riddin's hands lost grip with the ground, and his body went horizontal, which made Ukon's face bash into the ground, and Sakon's head into the back of Ukon's.

"OW!" Ukon exclaimed, arms growing out of Sakon to grasp at Ukon's head. "What the-... I'm out of the Genjutsu?"

"Damn," Tayuya muttered, and she stopped playing the flute.

"THE SECOND HEAD TALKS?!" Riddin yelled, frantically backing away, his eyes wide. The scare had knocked the dizzy out of him. "There are hands coming outta your shoulders!!"

"What kind of ninja are you?" Sakon demanded, rubbing the back of his head.

Riddin ran through hand seals. "One of a kind," Riddin grinned, holding out his right hand. _I have roughly fifteen regular shots left... Let's put five in this one._Sakon could feel the air around him being sucked towards Riddin's right palm; Sakon was actually sliding forward a little. "_**Daikihou**_!" (Great Air Cannon)

Riddin was suddenly launched backwards, skidding on his butt across the ground. He smashed into a tree, hit his head, and was knocked out.

"..." Both Sakon and Ukon sweat-dropped, biting down on their lip so they wouldn't laugh.

Riddin's Jutsu, incase it isn't obvious, backfired -- literally. Riddin didn't have his feet planted, and didn't have the skill to build up that much Chakra. If he had planted his feet, his ankles would have broken, but he probably wouldn't have hit the tree hard enough to get knocked out. If he had the skill necessary, it would have been Sakon and Ukon on the receiving end.

"_Ani_ is such a _baka_," Rayn sighed, hurrying to help Riddin. Sakura followed, glancing around for the girl of the Sound. Rayn applied an ointment she had pulled from her pocket onto Riddin's head, which somehow had not been cracked open.

_He really is hardheaded,_thought Sakura, expecting a rim-shot to go off in the back of her head.

Rayn pinched Riddin's ear, and he yelped and grasped at it. He glared at Rayn before rubbing his head, looking quite pale. Even if he was conscious he wouldn't be able to fight, if he could even walk.

"That hurt," he said simply, looking like he might be sick. "Did I even hurt the guy?"

"I think his lip is bleeding from biting down on it so hard," Rayn said, patting Riddin's shoulder. Riddin sweat-dropped in response, frowning.

"What about the other one? Is he unconscious?" Riddin asked, rubbing his temples.

"How hard did you hit your head?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow.

"There's two of `em!" Riddin defended, pointing at the brothers. "Those idiots better at least have a concussion from bashing their heads together!"

"?" Sakura looked at Rayn questioningly, and Rayn shrugged.

"Dammit, I'll show you!" Riddin yelled at the girls, frantically standing. "I'll rip those bastards apart!" He then face-planted into the grass. "Ugh..."

"I think _you_have a concussion," Sakura said, sweat-dropping. "And while you work your idiocies, Naruto and Sasuke-kun are in trouble!"

"Naruto-kun looks to be in good shape," Rayn said, glancing at the blonde.

Naruto was still struggling against the tree and sticky crap from Kidomaru. Kidomaru had finally finished spinning and such, and had already thrown two spike-clubs. Both had hit the tree, but missed Naruto. Naruto was biting down on his lip so he wouldn't yell, but was not limited to holding still.

"Are you insane?!" Sakura exclaimed, glaring at Rayn.

"I haven't been tested," Rayn said with a shrug. Sakura stared at her with wide eyes. Rayn smiled, "Just watch."

"Hmm... Gotcha this time!" Kidomaru exclaimed confidently, his eyes still closed, hurling the club. It was going to spear right into Naruto's face.

Silently, three figures launched from the trees from behind Kidomaru. The three orange-clad Shadow Clones all landed on his back, grasping each of his wrists and pulling back, so his six arms were behind him. The ground suddenly shattered all around Kidomaru as several Narutos shot from the earth.

The spike-club struck the bound Naruto, and the Shadow Clone dispersed.

"**U-Zu-Ma-Ki**!" They all yelled whenever they hit the front of Kidomaru, the last of which delivered a rising uppercut, knocking the spider-boy into the air. The three clones on his back kicked and released him at once, sending him toward the trees, where yet another Naruto was waiting. That Naruto jumped and flipped-

"!" Kidomaru had unleashed his rose/vine/thorn-resembling Cursed Seal, catching Naruto's leg with all six hands. Kidomaru jerked his hands apart, which would have shattered Naruto's lower leg if it was the real him; It wasn't, so the Shadow Clone just dispersed. Kidomaru flipped and landed on the tree branch, crouching and looking around.

"I'm done going easy on you, kid!" Kidomaru called, making hand seals. Kidomaru noticed Sasuke had launched Jirobo into the air. Kidomaru shot web at Sasuke, wrapping around the Uchiha's legs, the other end of the web in Kidomaru's hands. Kidomaru swung, crashing Sasuke into a tree. Kidomaru reeled it in, Sasuke trying to make hand seals, but Kidomaru wrapped up the rest of Sasuke's body, leaving his head uncovered.

"HEY, let's go!" Kidomaru yelled, holding Sasuke on his back with his lower four arms.

Sakon sprinted forward, jumping up onto a tree. He went from tree to tree in the dense forest, seeing Jirobo and Tayuya were between him and Kidomaru. Ukon lifted his head to watch the rear to see the pink-haired kunoichi sprinting after them, jumping up to follow from branch to branch.

"Get back here, you bastards!" Sakura screamed, going faster than she knew she could.

"_**TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!!!**_" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs, and the Sound actually had to stop because of all the smoke -- they didn't want to miss a branch and bash their face in by accident. The Sound blinked dimly at the thousand

blondes surrounding them. The thousand of pissed off blondes, all wielding a sun-looking fuuma shuriken. "EAT THIS! _**Shihouhappou Fuuma Shuriken**_!" (Fuuma Shuriken from All Directions)

The massive blades were, as Naruto said, coming from all directions. They all had the same arc, so there was a low chance of any of them clashing together before they would dice the Sound Four to bits.

"This is absurd," Sakon mumbled, grinding his teeth together. "_Shishienjin_, let's go!"

The Four of them quickly landed on branches that were all near each other, forming a square. They quickly went through hand seals before thrusting their palms forward, each of them bellowing, "_**Shishienjin**_!" (Four Violet Flames Battle Encampment)

A violet barrier quickly spread from their hands, creating a box around them. The hundreds of fuuma shuriken struck the large barrier, and were stopped in their tracks. Not only were they violently stopped, they burst into purple flames, falling to the ground where they continued to burn.

"GET `EM!" Naruto yelled, and all his Shadow Clones began making a Rasengan, so there were a total of 500 Rasengan, with the real Naruto keeping his distance. The Shadow Clones all launched forward, "**RASENGAN**!" The yellow orbs crashed into the violet barrier until the orb ran out of steam, and the clone was either knocked back or fell into the barrier and burst into flames before dispersing.

_Why do they think I'm defenseless?_Sasuke wondered, hanging upside-down in the web-sack on Kidomaru's back. _Not only these Sound idiots, but even those two..._

.Sasuke had been trying to make hand seals when Kidomaru had wrapped up his arms. Kidomaru seemed unaware that Sasuke had made sure his wrists were together, taking up as much room as possible with his hands, as well as taking as deep a breath as possible, and holding it when his chest was bound. This meant there was a pocket inside the web sack, which let Sasuke make hand seals and take deep breaths

Sasuke went through the hand seals and took a deep breath. _**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!**_He breathed as big a fireball as he could at Tayuya, engulfing her in the fireball. Tayuya screamed several obscenities, her hair and clothes aflame, and she fell off the tree -- without Tayuya, the Barrier Jutsu ended.

"Sakura-chan, let's go!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping. Sakura nodded and jumped, drawing a kunai from the holster on her thigh.

"Dammit," Sakon muttered. "Ukon!"

"I got it," Ukon groaned, separating from his brother. He jumped to the branch Tayuya was just on, going through the hand seals. The barrier began to rebuild, and the advancing Leaf ninja knew it -- but while in midair, they couldn't do anything.

"_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!" Naruto said, summoning one Shadow Clone in front of him, and several between him and Sakura. Naruto jumped off of the clone in front of him, and all the other clones created a chain by grabbing each other with one end landing on a tree, the other end grabbing Sakura by the ankles -- just before she hit the violet barrier. She gulped, grasping at her bangs to keep them safe, her face mere inches from the barrier.

"Ha!" Naruto laughed triumphantly, just barely getting into the barrier from the top -- the roof was the last piece to be established, and he had slipped in from the center. Naruto quickly summoned several Shadow Clones, all of them attacking the Sound ninja at random.

Agitated, Jirobo whirled around and plowed through the Shadow Clones attacking him -- while keeping one hand focused on the barrier, so it stayed up. Naruto couldn't really attack Kidomaru since he was using Sasuke as a shield, so he focused his assault on Sakon and Ukon since Jirobo could easily plow through him.

The real Naruto was attacking Ukon, who would kick out at the Shadow Clones, his Cursed Seal active. When Ukon swung at the real Naruto, one hand still keeping up the barrier, he smirked when he retained contact. Ukon grabbed Naruto and pulled him closer, unleashing the Level Two. Naruto was thrashing for a moment before he realized Ukon was gone.

"What the?" Naruto looked around, wondering where the enemy had gone. He hadn't fused with his brother, and the barrier was still up. Naruto glanced down and nearly yelled when he saw an arm sticking from his stomach, keeping the violet barrier up.

"I wouldn't move if I were you," Ukon whispered into Naruto's ear. Naruto could see Ukon out of the corner of his eye, his head sticking out of Naruto's shoulder. His skin was a different color, his eyes were different, and he now had a horn growing out of his head. "I can kill you in an instant." Naruto gulped, and his breathing quickened.

"Stop toying with him and kill him, Ukon," Sakon said. "Kokuhana and the brunette kunoichi aren't following, so we only have to deal with the pink-haired one." (Kokuhana - Black-nose)

"Right," Ukon smirked, reaching into Naruto's kunai holster. He pulled out a kunai and held it to Naruto's throat. "Do you want your heart to get sliced? Your throat slit? Your lungs disconnected?"

"So... you're a part of me, right?" Naruto asked, glancing between Sakon and Sakura. "Won't you die, too?"

"Only if I attacked a part I'm melded with," Ukon replied. "But I'm leaving those open, the rest of me is flowing freely between the rest of you."

_I hope he doesn't jump for the barrier,_thought a figure (think manga, where you can't see the details of the person). The figure clapped their hands together and pressed their palms to the tree bark, leaving a square symbol.

_Okay... so I can't move in any way that he'll notice, and if I jump for the barrier I'll definitely die,_thought Naruto. _I need a way to do some damage, but it's not obvious at first. Huh... Okay, I got an idea..._He then stuck his tongue out at Ukon.

"Heh, you think if you be a punk I'll let you go?" Ukon said, snide.

"That so?" Naruto said with a grin. He then opened his mouth wide, and he winked. Ukon's eyes went wide and he realized Naruto was going to bite through his tongue. Naruto chomped down, and a moment later, red ooze spilled from Naruto's mouth. The blonde fell to his knees, and then slipped off the tree.

"Heh-heh, nice job," Kidomaru chuckled. "You didn't even have to do anything."

"Yeah..." Ukon breathed. "But that was pretty close. He glanced up at the pink-haired kunoichi. She was blinking stupidly, watching her comrade fall to the ground meters below. Her eye twitched for a moment, but then shock consumed her face again.

"Make sure he's actually dead," Jirobo warned.

Ukon sighed. "Please, the kid's a goner..." He crouched down to see the crumpled orange mass on the ground, blood around his mouth. "He's there, he's dead. One of you take care of the kunoichi, I'm too tired." He approached Sakon and sank into him, falling back asleep as the Cursed Seal receded.

- - -

Half of the Sound Four hurried off, leaving Jirobo to deal with Sakura -- Tayuya had not resurfaced after being blasted by Sasuke's fireball. Jirobo landed on the same branch as Sakura, and she didn't react. She was on her knees, staring at the branch, mumbling to herself.

"Hmm... It's too bad I couldn't take a bite from the blonde boy or Kokuhana and their Chakra, but..." Jirobo said, cracking his knuckles. (Kokuhana - Black-nose. Riddin) "..You'll do for now."

"Eat this!" Jirobo's head instantly turned for the source of the sound, the blonde kid. Jirobo blinked once, quite stupidly, before the yellow orb the kid was holding hit Jirobo in the stomach. "**Rasengan**!"

Sakura jumped out of the way, and Jirobo was sent flying when the attack peaked, sending Jirobo whirling like wild until he crashed into the tree trunk, leaving a large indent in the bark.

"What the...?" Jirobo groaned, prying himself from the wood.

Do you remember the shop back on Firestorm Island, the trading post? Remember how Naruto had looked at some red balls, asked what they did, and the scene ended? Well, Naruto had bought some of those balls, and he slipped one into his mouth when none of the Sound was looking. He bit on the ball, releasing the red liquid that resembled blood, to get some space.

"I'm not done yet!" Naruto exclaimed, running for him. Jirobo rolled his eyes and swung, socking Naruto in the stomach. Naruto coughed up blood, weakly grasping at Jirobo's wrist.

"Are you done now?" Jirobo smirked.

"...Yeah," Naruto said thoughtfully, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

There was a splintering sound, and then Jirobo was suddenly propelled upward. Another pair of Shadow Clones had been hiding on the underside of the branch, and had busted through the tree branch with a second Rasengan. Because the second Rasengan was directly below him, he was spinning to the left, instead of rotating his entire body.

"**Uzumaki Naruto**...!" Three more Shadow Clones launched from the surrounding foliage. _Heh... How disappointing, I actually have to try..._thought Jirobo. The Narutos grabbed each other's forearms around Jirobo, pinning his arms to his sides as they surrounded him. The arrows spread from the source of his Cursed Seal. They all continued spinning, using the momentum of Jirobo already spinning. "_**Ren**_-!" Jirobo's muscles tensed, and he ripped through the three Shadow Clones. Jirobo flipped and landed, crushing the earth -- the kid had really could have done some damage with the speed behind that attack.

"I knew you and Kurohana had some Chakra stored inside!" Jirobo yelled. "But it's nothing! I'll rip you apart, trash!" Jirobo ripped into the ground, bringing up a massive -- and I mean _**massive**_ -- boulder. "_**Doton: Doryu Dango**_!" (Earth Release: Earth Mausoleum Dumpling)

"?!" Naruto's eyes widened into white circles. _Holy crap! That's one big boulder! _Naruto narrowed his eyes, _But he doesn't even know where I am!_

"!" Naruto then realized Jirobo did not plan on attacking Naruto, he was going to hurl it at Sakura. Sakura must have realized this and began running, and Jirobo hurled the mammoth boulder at such a speed she would get mowed over no matter how fast she went.

It took a moment, but Naruto realized that if he ran, full-speed, he could get Sakura out of the way. He launched himself from the tree, diverting all the Chakra he had left to his legs. _I have to make this! I have to save-_An image of Sasuke appeared in Naruto's mind. They were both in to trouble. Naruto's legs burned as his Chakra began to dwindle, the muscles growing tired. _I can't... I won't make it..._

"**Naruto... Show them our power..."**

Naruto's strides lengthened, and he kicked up more dust with each step. He did not run to Sakura, to get her out of the way. There was no way in hell he could get to her, _and_ avoid the boulder. So he'd just get to her, and then get rid of the boulder.

"Sakura-chan, get down!" Naruto yelled.

Naruto gathered Chakra into his arms, spreading them as he reached Sakura, who fell to her knees and covered her head. Naruto caught the boulder, and it grinded into him. He slowly leaned back from the sheer force of the boulder, nearly falling onto Sakura. Another surge of red Chakra splashed into his arms, and he then heaved the boulder, so it just barely flew over Sakura before hitting the ground again.

"Heh, you're letting off even more Chakra than before," Jirobo smirked, licking his lips. "It has a bit of a spicy taste to it."

"You haven't seen anything," Naruto grinned evilly, his eyes red and his irises thinned into slits. Naruto launched forward with almost blinding speed, and Jirobo just barely was able to duck. Naruto swung his arm, and Jirobo managed to get his arms up to block -- the attack was so powerful that the ground was actually splintered under the Sound ninja's feet. Naruto grasped Jirobo's guarding forearm and swung, smashing his feet into Jirobo's face, sending him flying.

_Naruto... So strong,_thought Sakura. (Note: Sakura and Sasuke are still ignorant about the Kyuubi inside Naruto.. And, on a similar note, neither of them are aware that the white Chakra is from a Bijuu.)

_So that's the Kyuubi's Chakra, _thought Rayn. She shivered from sensing the red Chakra, as faint as it was. _What power... Ezo's Chakra is nothing compared to this..._

_Whoa... This kid's speed and power have increased so much..._thought Jirobo, standing. _I can barely keep up with the Cursed Seal. _Jirobo wiped his bleeding nose, cracking it back into position. _Don't tell me I have to go Level Two... Well... He certainly has the Chakra to sustain me._

_Gotta wrap this up quick,_thought Naruto, breathing hard. _Sasuke's getting farther and farther... I just need to get this guy up to those branches..._Naruto glanced up, and Rayn gave him a thumbs-up.

Naruto nodded before dashing for Jirobo, knowing he now had the upper hand. Naruto socked Jirobo in the face before swinging his other fist, continuing a spin so that he performed a reverse-roundhouse to Jirobo's stomach. Naruto dashed behind Jirobo, Shadow Clones created halfway, and the four blondes all kicked the stunned Sound ninja skyward.

_Perfect..._thought Rayn, smiling and making a hand seal. "_**Ugoki Fuuin no Jutsu**_!" (Movement Sealing Technique) The four symbols on the trees glowed purple, and bands of purple light sprang out, connecting them.

Rayn felt the first Jutsu weaken -- Jirobo's strength was immense. Rayn made another hand seal, exclaiming, "_**Mata**_!" (Again) Four other seals lit up, creating a second band surrounding Jirobo -- but he was still moving. "_**Mata**_!" And a third appeared, so one was horizontal around him, the other two diagonal -- as if they were the electrons of an atom, with Jirobo as the nucleus. The three bands contracted until they were hugging Jirobo, and he was still again. Rayn was panting by now, sweat dripping everywhere.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked, slowly approaching Rayn. "Three Jutsu at once."

"It feels like I can't breathe," Rayn wheezed. "Jeez..."

"Is this it?" Jirobo taunted. "Some purple bindings?" Jirobo's muscles flexed, and he grew warts on his shoulders and forehead. His sclera (white of the eyes) turned black, his skin changing color.

"Crap..." Rayn groaned. "Sakura-chan... Get going, save Sasuke-kun... Take Naruto-kun, too."

"But he's going to break out, what about you?" Sakura said, glancing down at the changing Jirobo. "What about Riddin? You're our clients!"

"_Ani_ and I will be fine," she assured with a smile. "But first... Do me a favor... Brush my hair away from the back of my neck."

Sakura did as she was told, and blinked dimly when she saw hundreds of symbols and designs, all sprouting from a design that was actually the Yoshimitsu clan symbol.

"You see the dot in the center of the symbol?" Rayn asked. "Wipe it away, you may have to lick your finger."

"What is all this?" Sakura asked, licking her thumb.

"It's some Chakra-storing system," Rayn shrugged, though sweat was still pouring from every gland in her body. She seemed to be getting her breath back, though she was still feeling strain from the Jutsu. "A friend in Grass Country set it up. I have no idea how to add to it, or begin it. She just told me how to release it."

"Well, if you're sure," Sakura said hesitantly, crouching down, wondering if there would be any ill side-effects. She wiped away the seal, and all the seals pulsed yellow. Rayn let out a pained yell as the inhuman amount of Chakra surged into her. The purple bands around Jirobo pulsed even stronger, tightening their grip on him. Jirobo kept moving despite all this, as his Level Two had fully activated.

"Naruto, let's get go-...ing?" Sakura looked around, but Naruto was nowhere in sight. "Rayn, where did Naruto-?"

"He ran for the Sound," Rayn said, seeming less strained. "Right after he knocked the big guy into my Jutsu, I think."

Sakura quickly stood, jogging to the end of the branch. She glanced over her shoulder at Rayn for a moment before launching forward after Naruto.

- - -

"Ugh, my head," Riddin groaned, slowly standing, using the tree behind him for support. "Okay... Time to go..." He took a few dizzy steps forward, rubbing his blood-caked head. "Uchiha, you dumb bastard..."

- - -

"Any time now," Jirobo called up to Rayn. The rings surrounding him were beginning to get stretched again, thinning and weakening -- and Rayn still had tons of Chakra. Jirobo was just too strong.

Rayn began bobbing her head. There was a nice little tune playing somewhere in the forest, a slow flute... "!" _Flute? Oh, no... It's that girl's Genjutsu!_ Rayn's head drooped, and she blinked sleepily. _No... I have the Chakra to end this! Come on... Wait, if I try to end the Genjutsu, the big guy will be free... But if I don't, I'll be defenseless._

Rayn separated her hands, and the bands holding Jirobo shattered, and Jirobo dropped like a stone. Rayn quickly did a Genjutsu dispel technique before focusing on the sound itself. Where was it coming from? The girl didn't seem to do anything other than use the flute.

"Tayuya!" Jirobo yelled when he hit the ground. "Leave me be, this one is mine!"

"A 'thanks' would suffice, fat-ass!" Tayuya roared, pausing in the melody. Rayn looked left -- the sound was definitely coming from that direction. But Rayn knew she couldn't really do much, so she hurried off in the opposite direction -- making sure it wasn't in the direction of Sakura and Naruto.

As it turned out, she was actually running for Riddin.

- - -

"?" Riddin cocked an eyebrow when he sensed Rayn's Chakra. The odd thing was, there was a _lot_ of it. There was no way she could produce that much in a single day. Or a week. _She must be using the Chakra Seals..._

Riddin clapped his hands together eagerly. _I hope Nisaki is coming!_ (_Nisaki_ - Two-Heads -- like the Sound calls him '_Kokuhana_' (Black-Nose)) Riddin hurried forward, stumbling a little.

- - -

"Come back, trash!" Tayuya taunted from a distance, laughing. "I'm not done with you yet!"

_Against a Genjutsu, it's best to use an ally -- that way, even if one gets caught, the other can break the Genjutsu or attack the caster,_ thought Rayn, who had researched the topic. _But there's only one of me, and I'm not efficient enough at Genjutsu. And I'm no good at Taijutsu..._

Rayn grinned, skidding to a stop. _Which leaves me with my cunning! _She pulled a scroll from her pocket, opening it and looking over all the seals that contained various weapons and contraptions. She unsealed a pair of headphones, securing them into place. They were not yet activated, but she would 'shut' them when the hearing-based Genjutsu began. She closed the scroll up, looking around. _What to do?..._

- - -

"Jirobo, you useless fat-ass!" Tayuya yelled, dropping from the tree next to him. Her clothes were a bit burnt in places, but that was it -- her hair wasn't burned at all. "She got away! Aren't you supposed to be strong or something?!"

"Watch the language... Besides, I'm strong, not fast," Jirobo retorted. "It's annoying knowing if I don't find her and get some Chakra, my body will be too weak to fight." He closed his eyes, breathing slowly. "Where is she?..."

"_Oi_! Rayn!" The two Sound ninja looked over at the source of the sound. Riddin was wandering forward, squinting. He couldn't see them, he was looking left of where they were. "Where are you!?"

Jirobo smiled evilly. _Kurohana still has a good amount of Chakra coursing in him. I'll just capture him and drain him... _Jirobo went through a few hand seals, _**Doton Kekkai: Dorodomu**_! (Earth Release Barrier: Mud Dome)

"..." Riddin looked around when everything went dark. He seemed to be in some kind of cave, but there was no opening. It was like a giant earthen bowl, turned upside-down. Riddin idly kicked at it, as if that would do anything. "...What beats Earth again?"

_If Uchiha beat a big rock with that Lightning-Hand technique, then Lightning must beat Earth... And Wind defeats Lightning... So, does Wind beat Earth, or is it like Janken?_ (Rock-Paper-Scissors) Riddin kept staring at the wall, wondering if it was worth the gamble. "..." _I suck at Janken, I'll think of another way._

Riddin kicked the wall again. _I wonder if I can transform this..._

- - -

Naruto was flying through the forest, keeping his red eyes peeled for the Sound. At the rate he was going, he should catch up really soon. "!" He was right, he could see the two-headed guy and the six-armed guy just ahead. Naruto felt a little guilty leaving Sakura behind, leaving Rayn to deal with Jirobo, and leaving Riddin just sitting against a tree. But Naruto had to get Sasuke back, no matter what. Naruto launched into the air, staying oddly silent as he approached the enemy. He made a hand seal and a few Shadow Clones slowly appeared around him, equally silent.

"!" Ukon noticed them coming. "Brother... we have company..."

"Ah, good," Sakon said. he rifled through his pocket before tossing Kidomaru a small bottle, who caught it with one of his extra hands. "Kidomaru, you go on ahead. I'd like to have some fun."

"And you leave me to carry Sasuke-sama... Figures," Kidomaru mumbled, launching forward.

Several blurs shot from the trees in front of Kidomaru, pummeling themselves into him. He felt a few fists connect with his stomach, as well as someone ripping the cocoon holding Sasuke from his grasp. Whoever took Sasuke's container kicked off of Kidomaru's back, sending him flying into a tree.

"?" Sakon looked over his shoulder, Ukon simply lifting his head. They hadn't expected Shadow Clones already. Just as Sakon began to look forward again, one big blur shot from an adjacent tree. Sakon ducked, and was able to make out two of the blondes, one holding the other's ankles. The Naruto with his hands free grabbed a thin branch just above Sakon, swinging on it like a gymnast -- so both of the blondes swung around it, and the Naruto with his feet free managed to land a kick to Ukon's face. The conjoined brothers were sent flying, both surprised by the sudden speed and power.

"Oh, great... Looks like we have to use the Cursed Seal again," Ukon groaned. "Damn, I'm still exhausted from the last use."

"I can handle it," Sakon assured, flipping and landing on a branch. "!" Sakon ducked as the second Naruto, the one that had kicked him, flew by -- he must have let go, launching at Sakon. Ukon reached his right arm out, and then sprouted his left arm from his right palm, catching Naruto. Ukon jerked Naruto toward him, and Sakon whirled around to hit him, but Naruto dispersed in a puff of Shadow-Clone-smoke.

The first Naruto let go of the branch, flipping wildly on his way toward the brothers. Sakon brought back his right fist, and Ukon retracted his arms for the next attack. Sakon punched, Ukon extending both arms, and they socked Naruto in the face -- and he dispersed.

"Damn, all Shadow Clones," Sakon growled, letting out the Level One Cursed Seal. "Where's the real bastard?"

"You mean us?!" two Narutos yelled, landing on the branch Sakon was on, but from both sides. They dashed at Ukon, and would arrive at the same time. "Let's see you block this!" Both Shadow Clones punched, but Sakon and Ukon intercepted their fists, even grasping the other hand.

"We won't just block..." Sakon said, both he and Ukon leaning their heads forward.

"...We'll counter!" Ukon finished, also now using the Cursed Seal. He extended a leg from each of their foreheads, kicking both Shadow Clones in the face. They dispersed, surrounding the brothers with smoke. When the smoke dissipated, they realized they were alone. All the Shadow Clones had been defeated, and Kidomaru and the blonde had disappeared.

"It was all a diversion," Sakon growled.

- - -

_Okay... With Ani in that dome, the big fellow is focusing on him..._thought Rayn, watching Jirobo with his hands to the dome. _Which means he's not only open for attack from behind, it means I can focus on locating the girl._

Rayn switched the headset to 'mute,' and made a hand seal. She took a slow, deep breath to try to locate the girl's Chakra. _Make Chakra... Any Chakra..._

- - -

"..." Riddin's eyes twitched, highly annoyed by this point. He began banging on the wall. "Lemme out, dammit! Lemme out now!"

"Not until I've taken every last drop of that Chakra of yours!" Jirobo called through the earth.

"!" Riddin looked left -- he now could roughly tell where the guy was. He hurried over, and put his ear to the wall. He could faintly hear the guy chuckling on the other side. Riddin clenched his fist and brought it back, gathering Chakra into it. But then the sensation was gone -- the Chakra simply disappeared.

"..." Riddin stared at his hand dimly before his eyes went wide. "Wait, what?! You're draining my Chakra?!" Obviously he hadn't been listening to Jirobo.

"Slow, aren't you?" Jirobo taunted. "You can't even tell if you're losing Chakra? How pathetic."

"I'll show you pathetic!" Riddin roared angrily, bringing back another Chakra-filled fist. But when he swung, it was just a normal fist. It made a small impact in the compacted earth, and split open his knuckles. Riddin stared at the blood in a mix of feeling stupid and getting pissed.

"LEMME OUTTA HERE!!!" he roared, fire erupting in his eyes, his teeth sharpening comically, pounding on the walls pointlessly.

- - -

"What am I doing just sitting here?" Rayn thought aloud, though she couldn't actually hear herself. "If that girl could attack with Taijutsu or Ninjutsu, she would have by now. I should either use an all-out attack on the big guy, or find and defeat the girl. Which, though?"

- - -

_I think I'm gonna be sick..._thought Sasuke, who was turning green inside the constantly spinning and flipping cocoon. _Naruto, you idiot, just let me out..._

Naruto, the real Naruto, was running as far and as fast as he could away from the Sound. He would get some distance, and then try to get Sasuke out. However, the spider-guy was following him, so he had to do some dodging. Naruto looked over his shoulder before jumping high up to avoid another barrage of sticky webs.

"Heh, easy," Naruto said to himself, looking forward again. He his went comically wide when he saw all the webs Kidomaru had just shot had linked together to form a massive net in front of Naruto. "Crap..." Naruto jumped for a branch, swinging off it with one hand, to turn right. He ran alongside the massive web, intent on running around it.

"Perfect," Kidomaru grinned, clenching his fist -- wires wrapped around each finger. The wires were pulled taught, creating a near-invisible barrier of strings in front of Naruto. Naruto ran right into it, getting stuck to the sticky wires. Kidomaru jerked his wrist, twirling the wires around so they wrapped Naruto and the cocoon up. "Nice try, kid! A little chase is fun, but I'll always win!"

"Really?" Naruto grinned, and the cocoon turned into Naruto. There were two Narutos. "I don't think so!" the second one chided before both disappeared.

"Damn, when did he get the chance to do _Kage Bunshin_?!" Kidomaru exclaimed, looking around. "Okay, calm down... I set that cocoon up with a special signature -- if the kid even _tries_ to cut into it, I'll know where it is."

- - -

Riddin was beginning to feel the tug of Chakra now. He was beginning to lose his senses, his stamina was almost empty. Another ten minutes and he'd be too drained to breathe, or even sustain a heartbeat. Riddin pressed his bandana-covered forehead to the wall, closing his eyes and breathing hard.

_I have to conserve my energy... _thought Riddin. _I can't pull out the white Chakra, either... Damn... I need to run through my Jutsu, what's my biggest hit? I have Air Cannon, Fireball, Transformation... IS THAT IT?! ...Arg, and Transformation won't work with all the Chakra in this dome!... Man, all I can do is wait!_

"SOMEBODY!!!" Riddin yelled at the top of his lungs. So much for conserving his energy. (Author sweat-drops) "HELP ME, DAMMIT! RAYN, YOU OWE ME! LEAVES -- I'M YOUR FRICKIN' CLIENT!!!"

He then went into the center of the dome, hoping that if he was as far away from the walls as possible, he would lose Chakra at a slower rate. He couldn't tell the difference, but at least he could lie down comfortably

_I'm so tired..._ He closed his eyes slowly, unwillingly. _I'll just rest my eyes... ...I hope I wake up later._

- - -

However, Rayn was wearing sound-proof headphones and the Leaf Genin were nowhere near them. Rayn was still considering whether to attack Tayuya or Jirobo. She had no idea where Tayuya was, and doubted she could do much against Jirobo. But as long as she could distract Jirobo long enough for Riddin to get free, then Riddin could fight.

Rayn studied the area and Jirobo, mentally running through the contraptions sealed into her scroll. She had a pressurized kunai launcher, and a few explosive tags. If she used that in conjunction, she could launch a kunai at high speeds from behind, and it would explode. Then she could bomb one section of the dome, and hopefully free Riddin before Jirobo could repair it.

She got the kunai (it was really more of a cone, not the usual leaf-shape, no ring on the handle) and explosive tags from her backpack, setting them up. She opened up the scroll and touched the correct kanji, the pressure gun appeared in a puff of smoke.

It was a thin tube with four support legs, with a large orb at the back -- so it almost looked like a large medicine dropper. There was a large beam that ran through the front end, which resembled bicycle handles that turned up, buttons on the top. On the top of the tube, near the front, were two rods to put your feet on, so you would have a footing to pull on the handles. On the inside of the tube was a piston-cylinder, the handle-rod running through it. You put your feet on the front rods and grab the handles, and pull. It would click into place as you pulled it back, pulling the inner cylinder back, compressing the air inside.

She hit the left button to open up the hollow piston-cylinder, and pushed the handle-cylinder-bar forward, so she could add more pressurized air. She released the button, closing the piston-cylinder, making the tube of the cannon airtight. She then pressed the right button, opening a slot between the tube and the massive orb-container. She yanked back, still keeping the right button pressed, compressing the air into the orb. She released the right button, sealing the air into the orb.

She repeated the process several times, adding more and more pressure to the inside of the orb, making sure no air was let out.

Rayn hopped off the device, looking back to her sealing scroll. She touched the right kanji, and several foam cylinders appeared -- they were hollow. They were 'sabot' (sa-bow), which are used (in the real world) to mold around something so that the projectile will fit snugly into the barrel, so it would fire out without bouncing around. She looked at the sabot-covered darts, smiling. She touched another design on the sealing scroll, and some plastic appeared.

Rayn slid 'explosive dart' after 'explosive dart' into the pressure gun until she was out. She then fastened the plastic over the mouth of the barrel, so the darts wouldn't slide out (since she has to aim down). She grabbed the foot rods and used them to aim the pressure gun, pointing it at Jirobo. She sat back on the main tube, grabbing the handles, her thumbs hovering over the buttons.

If you recall, the left button opens up the piston-cylinder. The right opens up the slot over the orb, which currently had all the stored air. If she pressed both, all the air would be let out. The explosive tags had virtually melded to the darts, so they would not slow them down -- all Rayn would have to do was make a simple hand seal to make them explode. The darts would probably become shrapnel, increasing the lethality of it.

However, it was not exactly a weapon of war. It took too long to prepare. The aiming was slow and awkward -- you couldn't swivel around to hit multiple targets, or a moving one. Plus a ninja could just throw a kunai with an explosive tag -- but Rayn was not skilled enough for that, plus the pressure gun allowed her to shoot multiple explosives.

Rayn's grip tightened on the handles, and she closed one eye to finalize the aim. She stuck her tongue out, softly biting down on it, and she pressed the button-triggers simultaneously. The darts launched out with a few _tuk-koo!_s, the symbols on them glowing slightly. They honed in on Jirobo, and Rayn smiled. She quickly made the hand seal.

"_**BAKU**_!" (Explode)

- - -

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said, suddenly appearing next to her on the forest floor. He was carrying the giant web cocoon carrying Sasuke. Sakura was breathing hard, her hands on her knees when he found her. She looked up at him and gave him a quick scan.

Naruto looked exhausted, like he had just let off a lot of steam at once. His blue eyes were only half-open, and his cheeks almost looked pink. "Come on... I got Sasuke, let's go back and get Rayn and Riddin."

"Uh... Right," Sakura breathed, nodding. "What about the other Sound guys?"

"..." Naruto shrugged. Sakura sweat-dropped. "...Anyway," Naruto said nervously, noticing her reaction. "Do you need to rest a minute? `Cuz if you do, I can try getting Sasuke out of this thing."

_Finally..._thought Sasuke, who could still hear. _Idiot..._

"Ugh, I can't just pull it away," Naruto said. "Sakura-chan, you got a kunai?"

"Oh, yeah," she reached into her holster and tossed it to him. He caught it and pulled at some of the strands of web, putting the kunai under them, and then tugging while holding the strings. They didn't even fray, but a glowing green liquid seeped out. Naruto made a face and wiped it onto the ground, but the web cocoon kept leaking green goo.

"What is this junk?" Naruto asked, shaking his hands to get the gunk off. "It's sticky..."

- - -

"!" Kidomaru's eyes widened, and he smiled. He could strongly sense the presence of his own Chakra half a kilometer to the east. The green stuff was loaded with it, and only Kidomaru was able to sense the Chakra -- though he imagined the fabled Sharingan could see it. Not that it would matter much, Sasuke was the one inside the cocoon.

- - -

_Boom!.. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!_The first dart, the one in the lead, exploded first. It caught Jirobo off guard, exploding almost right next to him, knocking him away from the dome. All the other darts shot into the smoke from the first explosion, diving into the rock dome by a few centimeters before exploding rapid-fire.

Rayn sealed the pressure gun back up in a near-instant, stuffing the scroll into her backpack before jumping down, leaving the backpack up on the branch. She rushed for the dome, which had a decent-sized hole in it from the explosions. Riddin was in the center of the dome, on his back, his fingers interlocked over his chest. His eyes were closed, and Riddin wasn't sure if he was breathing. Rayn hurried forward and checked his pulse -- he had a faint heartbeat.

"Come on, _Ani_," she groaned, slinging his arm over her shoulder. "I'll get you outta here..." She made sure Riddin's rucksack was still on his back (it was) and she went as fast as she could, dragging Riddin out of the dome.

"Stupid, useless fat-ass," Tayuya mumbled, gripping her flute. She put it to her lips. _Now it's my turn..._

- - -

_What to do, what to do?_Kidomaru pondered, watching over Naruto and Sakura, the prior trying to cut into the cocoon while the latter was catching her breath. _Maybe I should just bash their skulls in and take Sasuke..._ Kidomaru made the hand seals necessary, and a golden spike slowly slid from his mouth. He made another, and idly twirled them. _Alright, let's go. No more games._

He hurled both clubs before going through more hand seals, for sticky webs in the event they dodged the clubs. The blonde threw the cocoon (much to Sasuke's annoyance), and dove into the kunoichi, knocking her out of the way.

"Naruto, what the heck are you doing!?" Sakura demanded, pushing him off of her. "Get off me!"

"Get outta here," Naruto said, and the clubs hit the ground, sinking into the dirt by a few inches. Naruto stood, looking up at Kidomaru. "I'll deal with him. Take Sasuke and try to find Riddin and Rayn."

"You're tired enough, we can take this guy together!" Sakura insisted. "Naruto, I don't need you to protect me, I can fight!"

"I know that," Naruto grinned, blushing a little bit. "But for this fight, uh... I wanna go solo, y'know?" It was completely honest. He knew he would delve into the Fox's Chakra, and he didn't want her to see it in case it overwhelmed him. "Besides, I betcha you'l find another Sound guy and have a nice fight!"

Sakura smiled, letting out a breath with her eyes closed. She shook her head, almost in disbelief. But this was so much like Naruto, she wasn't sure why she was having trouble accepting it in an instant. Something about him was off, but she wasn't sure what. Maybe it was the fact that even though he was shaking from exhaustion -- or at least she thought it was exhaustion, he could still keep going at full steam -- he wanted to fight this really strong guy. Naruto might be an idiot, he might be proud, but he wouldn't blindly charge to his death. Whatever it was Naruto was hiding, he was still confident.

"Okay..." Sakura said after a moment, her tone softer than usual. Naruto seemed to pick up on it, and his entire face softened for a few seconds. "Naruto, just be careful."

"Right," Naruto nodded, smiling. "Stay safe, Sakura-chan. And, uh... make sure that idiot, Sasuke, makes it." He broke out in an idiotic grin. "`Cuz I still haven't pestered him for getting captured!! Hihihi..."

Sakura smiled, rolling her eyes, and hurried over to the cocoon. She picked it up, and it was surprisingly light. The webs weren't that heavy at all. Sakura glanced up at Kidomaru -- he was just finishing a sixth club. She looked at Naruto, who nodded encouragingly. Sakura nodded back before hurrying back in the direction she had left Rayn.

- - -

Yang's Notes: Let's see... Here's a quick debriefing, since the chapter is about 24-25 pages: Jirobo's condition is unknown, but a bomb went off right next to him, so he can't be great. But after 'eating' so much of Riddin's Chakra, he will probably heal easily. I have to admit I dislike writing for this guy, his fighting style is so boring.

Riddin is free of the dome, but nearly dead. Rayn is dragging him out, still running hot with the Chakra Seals up, and Tayuya is about to 'have some fun' with them. Mind you, Rayn has sound-proof headphones on and Riddin is currently unconscious. But... can Genjutsu affect the sleeping? Read the next chapter to find out!

Sakon and Ukon essentially got ditched, but are exhausted from using the Cursed Seal, so they're probably just sleeping by this point. I'm a little upset by this (odd, it's my story), I like writing the fight scenes involving them.

Sakura is hurrying away with a still-bound Sasuke, to find the clients. Naruto is about to engage Kidomaru in a fight. And think about the way Naruto fights when he begins to rely on the Fox's Chakra. Kidomaru is in for a rude awakening -- which is good, because I'm having a hard time locating the names for his attacks right now.

Let's see, what else?... Oh, right! Rayn's "pressure gun." It's not all that powerful, it throws only one, special kind of dart at about the speed of a ninja throwing a kunai. It just is capable of rapid-fire, in the same spot. But a trained ninja can do that, too. I explained that in the chapter, I'm pretty sure.


	15. Chapter 15 Games

Disclaimer: Psst! I've got a secret! I don't own _NARUTO_! Wait, that's no secret!

Deposit one review upon completing this chapter, lest your soul be harvested for my gingerbread-man army -- one soul can be split into around 200 gingerbread-men, give or take your age, height, and weight. So, unless you want massive gumdrops for rocks, peppermints for steppingstones, super-sized candy-canes for streetlamps, etc etc, by 2009, review!

. . .

It's Friday! New _NARUTO_ chapter and new _Fullmetal Alchemist_ chapter! And now, I present to you, a new _Art of Deception_ chapter! I'll try to get them out every week or two, all on Friday.

...I just saw a commercial for _Richie Rich _on _Cartoon Network_, it's on Sunday (12-14-08). This day just got a whole lot better. (Yes, I still watch _Cartoon Network_.)

- - -

Riddin was awake again. And he was standing. And he was in the middle of nowhere, the area made of blood-red sand, various bones strewn about that area. It was pretty depressing, really.

Riddin looked around, taking in the bleak scenery. He said what he saw, "_Aka-aka, _skull, _aka-aka, akakakakakaka_...." Riddin squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm getting dizzy..." (Aka - Red, Aka - dirt. Red dirt, red dirt, redirt, redirt, redirt....)

"Hmm... Looks like the girl is immune to my brand of Genjutsu," a female voice said, coming from everywhere. (Referring to Rayn using sound-proof headphones.) "But at least I get to have some fun with you before I make your brain implode..."

"Just so y'know, I'm immune to all Genjutsu," Riddin said. "Or rather, I can cancel them out pretty much whenever, I can technically still be attacked with them... But I figured I'd have a listen to what you have to say..." (Referring to tactic used by Eight-Tails Jinchuuriki)

"Hmm..." Tayuya slowly appeared a few feet in front of him. _Stupid, bluffing shithead._ She cocked her head, staring at him. He became aware his arms were bound with black wires that stretched out into infinity. He wasn't sure if they had been there the whole time, as he felt pretty numb. And the skin and muscles on Riddin's right forearm seamed to slacken, falling away from the bones.

"I think that's supposed to hurt," Riddin said, looking at it. "But my mind isn't registering pain right now, so... this is pointless."

"Maybe your brain isn't picking up pain signals, but this is still eating away at your mind," Tayuya taunted. "With your body in its current condition, any mental strain and you'll die. It won't be long, shithead."

Riddin didn't seem to be paying attention to her threats, "While we're here, let's talk..."

- - -

"Let's go, kid!" Kidomaru challenged, twirling the clubs in his hands. "Let's see what you got!"

_I can't feel the Red Chakra anymore..._ thought Naruto. _This is going to be difficult..._ Naruto made a few Shadow Clones, all of them looking up at Kidomaru. Kidomaru chuckled before hurling all six clubs at once -- all six were dodged. But when they all looked up at Kidomaru, he was gone. _Crap..._

"!" Naruto managed to see an explosive kunai fly at him, so he got out of the way, his Shadow Clones scattering. But the kunai never exploded.. it was a fake! Very suddenly, dozens of golden daggers were flying in from all directions. Naruto had no way to avoid them -- how did Kidomaru know which was the real one? He didn't, as it turned out, because the entire area was being assaulted -- the others were also targeted. All the Narutos hurried together for some reason.

Kidomaru smirked when the daggers hit the ground, kicking up dirt everywhere. He couldn't see much, but there was no way that the kid could have survived, even with Shadow Clones acting as shields. There were simply too many daggers to make enough shields, he'd need to make at least 100... "!?" Kidomaru's eyes snapped open when he saw Naruto standing amongst the golden daggers, completely unharmed.

"Wha... How?... He doesn't have a scratch on him!" Kidomaru muttered to himself, grinding his teeth together._ Maybe he made a shield or barrier?_

"Okay!" Naruto yelled, looking around. "Wherever the hell you are, that won't work! I can make enough Shadow Clones to act as shields!" Kidomaru furrowed his brow, figuring it was a bluff. "So just come out and fight, coward!" Naruto grinded his teeth together when Kidomaru didn't even move. "Fine, then I'll come looking for you! _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!" Around two dozen Narutos appeared, looking around and running for the trees.

_Maybe he can make a lot of Shadow Clones..._ thought Kidomaru. _And I lost track of which is the real him... But it doesn't matter..._ He let the Cursed Seal spread, keeping it at Level One. He went through a few hand seals before spewing more Kumo-Nenkin (Golden Spider Thread) from his mouth. It pooled in front of him before it seemed to spring out, turning into 25 spikes heading for all the Narutos. The blades all sank into them, the Shadow Clones disappearing, and the real Naruto was only cut on his left forearm.

Naruto launched forward, ignoring the wound, now knowing where Kidomaru was hiding. He landed on some of the Nenkin (Golden Thread -- I'll refer to it by this from here on), and dashing along it for the source. He slipped his hand into his backpack without unbuckling it, pulling out a fuuma shuriken. He opened it up, throwing his arm back to launch the massive blade. Another spear of Nenkin was launched out, even though Naruto couldn't actually see Kidomaru yet, so Naruto jumped for a different rod of Nenkin.

_Perfect..._ thought Kidomaru, a thin string of web around his middle finger. That was when Naruto jumped- _Now!_ Kidomaru let the string slip, and a barrage of Nenkin daggers was launched from in front of Naruto.

Naruto widened his eyes, stuck in midair. He tucked his knees in to minimize himself as a target. He also managed to hold the fuuma in front of him, holding his other arm behind the hole-handle, creating a shield. A kunai went through the hole-handle and hit his left forearm, and three other kunai hit his legs. Naruto landed on the Nenkin bar, and hurled the fuuma before Kidomaru could get off another attack. He then yanked the Nenkin daggers out, shoving them into his open kunai holster before hurrying forward.

_Smart move, maybe this kid will prove to be a little fun,_ thought Kidomaru. He flicked his wrist and wrapped web-wires from his fingertips around the branch he was on, still connected via hands, and he jumped off the branch to avoid the fuuma. He swung using the webs, disconnecting and landing on a different tree.

"Let's play a little game!" Kidomaru called, watching Naruto from the shadows. "I'll play with you for three minutes before killing you! It'd be longer, but I need to go get back Sasuke!"

"You ain't takin' Sasuke!" Naruto yelled angrily, looking around. "And I ain't dyin'!"

_So far, all he's done is Shadow Clones,_ thought Kidomaru. _He seems to use mainly Taijutsu... He obviously has a vast Chakra amount, but even he has a limit... If I just stay at a distance, I'm fine. If I capture him in some web, I've won._

At least two hundred orange-clad ninja then launched themselves at the six-armed Sound shinobi.

- - -

"Sasuke-kun, can you hear me?" Sakura asked, pointlessly 'cutting' at the webs. "I'm trying, but these webs won't break... They must be made of Chakra..."

"..." She didn't hear anything from inside the green-oozing cocoon.

- - -

Rayn had found a tree that seemed lifted up by its roots, so there was a small shelter under it. She had opened her headphone for all of two seconds before shutting it again -- the flute was playing. She wasn't sure what happened to the big guy, he didn't move after the chain of explosions. She looked over at Riddin to see blood seep from his mouth, and she quickly turned him on his side, opening his mouth -- and some of blood splashed out.

"Crap, he's still effected by sound Genjutsu," Rayn realized. "Okay... Maybe I can break it with some of this extra Chakra..." She put her hands together to gather some Chakra, and then placed them near Riddin's ears. There was a faint _whoosh _sound, and Riddin's eyes twitched -- though they did not open. He was still out cold, after all. Rayn quickly got more headphones and slipped them over Riddin's ears, activating them.

_With all this extra Chakra, I can perform actual medical Ninjutsu..._ thought Rayn. She went through the hand seals and rested her hands on his chest, accelerating cell production and essentially getting some stamina back into Riddin's system. His body suddenly bucked, as if he had just been hit with shock paddles. Rayn pulled her hands back, and Riddin was still once more. She tried to reapply the Ninjutsu, but he made a quick spasm again.

- - -

Kidomaru quickly made a few hand seals, spewing Nenkin everywhere. (Golden Thread) As he attacked, he shot webs from his hands to pull himself away. He made a hole in the mini-army, and he shot through the opening. He flipped, upside-down, and spewed even more Nenkin, completely wiping out the orange-clad ninjas. The real Naruto had gotten hit in the right leg, cutting through his kunai holster and making it fall to the ground, cutting several centimeters into his thigh. Blood spilt, running down his leg and drenching his pants.

"It's been fun, kid... But it's no fun when you just keep using the same Jutsu," Kidomaru called, landing on a branch. "But you're pretty good, even if you are boring." Kidomaru's hair grew longer, turning white. "So, out of what little respect I can muster..." Kidomaru's skin changed color, and his sclera turned black. "I'll show you my Level Two form..." His forehead protector fell, revealing his third eye on his forehead -- his transformation was complete. He stood proudly, "...And annihilate you in one hit."

- - -

"This isn't working," Rayn mumbled. "Looks like I have no choice..." She flew through hand seals, including ones that weren't too horribly common -- several were specific just for this Jutsu. "All of my remaining Chakra..." The Chakra Seals faded until they were completely gone -- it took several days' worth of Chakra for this Jutsu. "_**Fuuinkai**_!" (Seal Release) She thrust her palm into Riddin's stomach, and light shined from Riddin's eyes and mouth, both flying wide open. Steam rose from every pore on his body, and it swirled around him. Rayn stumbled back and fell against the inside of the tree before losing consciousness from the massive, and sudden Chakra drain.

- - -

Sakura felt a huge chill, and clutched at her arms, rubbing them for warmth. It wasn't just physically chilling, she felt it deep inside, too. It felt like a hand of ice had just grabbed her entire being, body and soul. The sensation seemed oddly familiar, she knew where it was coming from...

"!" She saw the webs holding Sasuke began to crackle somehow, apparently hardening. It began to chip, and Sakura began hitting it with her fists as hard as she could, breaking away the cocoon.

- - -

**Boy... I know how to deal with these Sound brats...**

_How?..._ Riddin asked, looking up at the massive wolf, both of them suspended in black oblivion. Riddin was standing, the Wolf lying on its front, its front 'wrists' on top of each other, the Wolf's 'chin' resting on them. Unlike in Naruto's subconscious, there was no barrier between the two beings.

The _Gobi_'s fur was pure white, his ears more-or-less triangular. His eyes were the usual wolf/dog look, the irises golden. His nose was black, and a thin line of black connected his wet nose and lips, which were also black. His teeth were long and sharp, much resembling the Kyuubi's teeth. When his mouth was closed however, he looked like your average dog or wolf -- except for the five tails part.

**They want Sasuke-kun, correct? If they had him, they'd leave us alone?** _Yeah, I imagine... That Tayuya girl said they were going to give him some weird pill to boost his strength, and then take him to some 'Okorachima.' She also said she didn't care what happened to us._ **Do you mean Orochimaru?** _That's the one! Guy with the snake fetish!_ **...Right... Well...**

(Note: I will refer to the Bijuu-controlled Riddin as Ezo. This will make it easier to tell the difference between Riddin being in control, and his Bijuu being in control. Obviously, the real Ezo (the massive wolf Bijuu) won't be out in the real world in his own body, so there shouldn't be any confusion. However, if told from a person's perspective, it might say Riddin instead of Ezo -- as they don't realize Riddin isn't the one using his body.)

Ezo opened Riddin's eyes, which were now golden with the irises and pupils much larger. Ezo grinned eagerly, flashing his 'werewolf' fangs. He stood, noticing his black nails were sharpening into tiny curved blades. Ezo clenched his fists, digging into his palms with the nails. He opened his hands up, showing the blood, as well as the fact the wounds were healing.

- - -

Naruto stared at Kidomaru's Level Two form for a few seconds. His eyes were wide circles, staring in bewilderment. He had never seen something so freaky in his life -- as if the six arms weren't weird enough. Then, even worse, he started coughing up some more golden junk. It became a massive bow, and then Kidomaru spit out an arrow, biting through it and nocking the arrow.

Naruto looked down at the massive branch he was on, thinking quickly. He looked up at Kidomaru, who had pulled the arrow back as far as possible. This thing was going to fly super-fast -- and Naruto was willing to bet Gama-chan's entire belly that Kidomaru was a good shot. (Gama-chan is his wallet, he's saying he'll bet all the money in his wallet)

Naruto dimly took a step backwards, staring up at Kidomaru. And then another step, and he was at the edge of the branch. Naruto locked eyes with Kidomaru, his bright blue eyes boring a hole into the black sclera and golden irises that were Kidomaru's eyes.

Kidomaru smirked and began to aim. _I dare you, kid,_ thought Kidomaru. _Jump off, you'll be dead in midair._

And Naruto took another step back, invisible for all of a second, and then he was falling feet-first behind it. Kidomaru released the arrow, and it flew into Naruto's chest, and then out the other side.

- - -

Ezo exited the tree's shelter, grasping the bark of the visible root even with his shoulder. His palm grew cold for a moment before he released the wood. Ezo looked around, but saw nothing, so he relied on his ears, listening in. The girl had stopped using the flute after Riddin had been freed from the Genjutsu. But she wasn't what Ezo was after.

- - -

_Poof!_ And the bloody, hole-in-chest, Naruto dispersed in a puff of smoke. Kidomaru had just killed a Shadow Clone.

"Wha... What the hell?" Kidomaru muttered. He took a deep breath before spewing out more Nenkin (Golden Thread), creating three arrows, but with these the heads looked like a drill. _These will have spin, and blast right through the tree..._

Naruto had actually locked onto the tree branch with just his feet, remaining unseen by Kidomaru. He had quickly made a Shadow Clone directly behind himself, and the Shadow Clone fell, becoming visible. And then Kidomaru shot it. Kidomaru figured that much out, but he wasn't sure if he had moved or if he was just hanging there dumbly.

Kidomaru launched the first arrow where Naruto was at first, where he had pretended to fall. There was no river of blood or scream of pain when the arrow blasted through the wood, so Kidomaru guessed Naruto wasn't there. Kidomaru altered his aim and shot farther down on the trunk, taking out one side of the tree. He then shot the third arrow, completely cutting through the tree -- he had just chopped it down with arrows. It tipped to the left, and crashed into several other trees before falling down to the ground. No panicked yells, so Naruto must have switched to a different tree without Kidomaru noticing.

_Holy crap!!!_ thought Naruto, who was hiding behind an adjacent tree. _That was frightening! Okay, cool down, Uzumaki... He can only attack in one general direction. I'll have to distract him, and have some Shadow Clones sneak up from behind..._

- - -

Ezo rushed forward, his arms behind him -- he was moving too fast to pump his arms. He skidded to a stop, taking off in a new direction. Not a single speck of dust was kicked up, his footsteps barely audible -- though to his increased senses, they sounded normal. He slowed to a stop, finding what he was looking for -- Sakura was talking to Sasuke. She was pounding on a weird-looking shell, which contained Sasuke. She wasn't getting much progress, but was determined.

_**Remember, use their language...**_ "**Sakura**," Ezo said, jogging up. Sakura immediately noticed the changes, especially the deeper voice. However, she remembered that Riddin had mentioned 'changes,' so she let it go unmentioned. "**I need you to move. I'll get Sasuke out.**"

"Oh... Okay," she breathed. The chilling feeling was coming off of Riddin, no doubt. Ezo approached the cocoon, placing his hand on it. His hands glowed white, and the cocoon crackled.

Sasuke, on the inside, blinked dimly. It was like the Chakra that looped through the cocoon infinitively began to slow. It was like the White Chakra was freezing it, slowing it down.

Ezo lifted his hand by only a few inches, and slammed his palm down -- shattering the hardened cocoon. Sasuke blinked dimly, slowly sitting up. Ezo picked Sasuke up by the collar and walked off, leaving a confused Sakura behind.

Sakura's thoughts were racing. Was there a connection between the Cursed Seal Chakra, and Riddin's white Chakra? Riddin had no markings, while all the Cursed Seals did. Obviously, whatever Riddin's second Chakra was coming from, it wasn't anything like a Cursed Seal.

"What?" Sasuke demanded once they were out of Sakura's sight and earshot.

"**I know what the Sound wants with you," **Ezo said, pointing a claw at Sasuke. **"It involves a pill that'll give you immense power..."**

- - -

"Where... where did Riddin go?" Sakura asked confusedly five minutes later. She had waited patiently, wondering what Riddin was up to, and where Rayn was.

"To get Naruto," Sasuke said, staring at the ground. He looked deep in thought -- almost like he did back when Sakura had begged him to stay. Sakura wasn't sure what to do or say, but she slowly approached him. He looked up at her, looking like whatever he was thinking about made him tired.

"Sasuke-kun... Are you okay?" Sakura asked tentatively, reaching out to touch his shoulder reassuringly. He did not resist, and she gently clasped his shoulder. He stared into her eyes for a few seconds before looking off into space.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." he said after a moment. He waited for Sakura to remove her hand before walking in the direction Riddin had told him to. "Come on, let's go get Rayn. Yoshimitsu is on his way to get Naruto..."

Sakura hurried after Sasuke, worried. _What did Riddin say?..._

- - -

"Missed me, sucker!" Naruto yelled, hands on his hips and grinning. "That form isn't that great! You just look weird! All that Chakra? Ha, that's nothing compared to mine!"

"Ah, you want to play some more, eh?" Kidomaru smirked. He spit out another drilling arrow. "Then let's play! It's like a shooting range!!"

Naruto made a hand seal. "_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_!" A few Shadow Clones appeared along the various branches around Naruto. "Then let's go! I'm betting you run out of Chakra before I do!"

"With my Cursed Seal, there's no way!" Kidomaru called, nocking the arrow. "Alright, let's play 'Who Runs Out of Chakra First?'!" Naruto and his Shadow Clones began jumping around so Kidomaru couldn't tell who was who, but Kidomaru didn't seem fazed, and fired right at Naruto. A Shadow Clone shoved him out of the way, taking the arrow instead.

_Hurry up already!_ thought Naruto, hoping not to give away his plan. _Get him with a Rasengan or two!_

The four Shadow Clones silently launched forward from behind Kidomaru, paired up for two Rasengans. The two Clones helping quickly dispersed, and the other two pushed off a branch, picking up speed to crash the yellow Chakra orbs into Kidomaru's back. Naruto and the Shadow Clones all smiled a little, confident.

"!" Kidomaru noticed the smiles and spit out three arrows, whirling around as he did. He tilted the bow so it was horizontal, and he launched the three arrows at once. Two arrows plowed through the Shadow Clones while the third just flew off -- though it nearly hit Ezo-Riddin as he approached.

_He's looking the other way, now's our chance!_ thought all the Narutos at once, launching forward. They paired up, getting ready to barrage him with about ten Rasengans. Kidomaru whirled around with three arrows already knocked, letting them fly. They actually hit multiple Shadow Clones each, taking out eight of the twenty Shadow Clones -- ruining six Rasengans, four remaining.

_This isn't good, I can't get them all at once... I'll just have to dodge..._ thought Kidomaru. But then there was a massive downward gust of wind, eliminating the Shadow Clones and sending the real Naruto several meters down before managing to stop himself near the forest floor.

"What the hell?" Naruto said loudly, looking up. Riddin was crouching on a high branch, pointing both palms down. He had used his Wind Release Jutsu to knock Naruto away for some reason. "Riddin! What the hell are you doing?!"

Riddin disappeared. It wasn't in a puff of smoke, either. He just kind of became a blur, and then was gone -- like Lee with his weights on. Riddin reappeared in front of Naruto, making gestures for the blonde to follow him.

"We can't kill these guys!" Ezo called, trying to imitate Riddin's voice. "I have a plan!..."

_I feel like I'm forgetting something..._ Riddin said from the inside, tapping his lips with his left index finger.

- - -

(What Riddin forgot)

Jirobo lifted himself up from the ground. The explosions were a complete surprise, but he was alright. Maybe a little beaten up, but he could definitely fight. He looked around, wondering where Tayuya was. She wasn't around, so he headed over for the tree the Yoshmitsu had been hiding in. He poked his head in and smiled sinisterly when he saw the unconscious Rayn.

"Ah, sweet payback," Jirobo chuckled. He ducked inside, cracking his knuckles loudly.

"The Chakra signature is over here," Sasuke called, rushing for the tree. Riddin-Ezo had told him to look for a white-yellow circle, as he had marked the tree with a seal. Sasuke had just honed in on that specific color of Chakra.

"Hmm..." Jirobo smiled. "I'll save you for later," he said in Rayn's direction. "I'll play with Sasuke first."

"Sakura... stay here," Sasuke warned. "I'll draw the enemy away, and you make sure Rayn is okay."

Sakura nodded, and Sasuke rushed forward. Jirobo jumped from the tree, pulling back a fist for a punch. Sasuke used his superior speed to get in front of Jirobo, on his hands. He whirled around, kicking into Jirobo's stomach several times before crashing his heel into the Sound shinobi's jaw, sending him up by a few feet. Jirobo clasped his hands over his head, and swung them down together as Sasuke jumped up. Sasuke barely managed to get his arms up in time, but the impact still sent him right back down.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed worriedly, stopping on the way to get Rayn. "Are you okay?"

Sasuke pushed off the ground, kicking Jirobo with both feet in the stomach as he fell back down. Jirobo was knocked backwards, and he stumbled a little when he landed. Sasuke launched himself at Jirobo, who ducked down and socked Sasuke in the stomach, causing the Uchiha to cough up some blood. Jirobo swung with the other fist, smashing Sasuke in the face and sending him away.

- - -

"'Get Sakura and Rayn, and wait,'" Naruto said aloud, walking through the forest, repeating what Riddin (though really Ezo) had told him. "'I might take a while, but I will fill you in once I get there.'" Naruto looked around, having no idea where the girls even were. "I guess I should have asked where they were..."

- - -

"You better be as good as the blonde, _Kokuhana_," Kidomaru growled, keeping a drilling arrow honed for Ezo's head. (Black Nose) Ezo was suppressing most of his Chakra, hence why Kidomaru was so confident.

"**Hold up, **_**Sangan**_**,"** Ezo said, holding up a finger. (Three-Eyes) **"Let's make things interesting. Have you ever heard of a '**_**Chi-Kyoutei Fuu**_**'?"**

"'Blood-Pact Seal'?" Kidomaru echoed. "No. What is it?"

"**It's a special bond, created between two ninja," **Ezo grinned. He clasped his hands together, **"They make an agreement, and seal it in blood. Should they ever break the agreement, the guilty die."** Ezo rubbed his chin,** "It was initially used in the Konoha ANBU, each member required to have one. But time passes, ways change, wars end... They dropped the seal itself, getting a black tattoo that resembles it, simply missing the dot in the center."**

(I totally made up the ANBU thing, FYI. But doesn't that sound like something an old-school ninja like Danzou would do? Absolute loyalty or die!)

"That so?" Kidomaru said, cocking an eyebrow. "And what were you thinking?"

**"We create that bond," **Ezo replied. **"Under the terms that I cannot attack you during this game, and you cannot move from that branch. I cannot run away, since you're stuck."**

"Alright... So the game is?..." Kidomaru asked, relaxing his grip on the arrow. He had never played a game like this, it sounded exciting. The thought he was being played never occurred to him.

"**I will draw three targets on my body, and you are to aim for them. Should you hit one, even once, you win and get to kill me," **Ezo offered. **"If I die from a wound other than to one of the targets, you also win."**

"This game seems oddly one-sided so far," Kidomaru observed. "What's in it for you?"

"**Should I still be alive when just one of your comrades arrive, I win the game," **Ezo replied. **"And when I win, you take a pledge that you cannot harm me, Yoshimitsu Rayn, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke -- whether directly or indirectly."** Ezo jumped, landing next to Kidomaru. **"So, do we have a deal?"**

"You got it, what do we do?" Kidomaru grinned.

"**We run through the 12 basic hand seals, in order. We then prick our palms where a **_**Tenketsu**_** is, and we shake..." **(Chakra hole/point) He offered his hand, but instead of tilting his wrist down, he tilted it up. (Gangsta Shake, ha-ha) **"...And release Chakra out of that point, through the blood, and into the other's body. And the seal is set."**

"Alright, let's start," Kidomaru nodded.

- - -

"What the hell are you doing, just standing there?" Tayuya demanded from the treetops. Jirobo and Sasuke looked up, both staring at her in a bored way. They were about five paces away from each other. "Do something! Beat the shit out of each other!"

"Tayuya, watch your tongue, it's unbecoming," Jirobo said, still looking up at her. "Now go find Sakon. Sasuke-sama and I will be.. sparring until you get back. Make sure not to kill anyone."

"Boring as hell fat-ass," Tayuya muttered, hurrying away. She was pretty sure she had seen Sakon when she had followed Kokuhana for a few minutes, so she headed in that direction. (Black-nose)

- - -

_**Okay, I underestimated this guy, and overestimated myself,**_ thought Ezo, ducking down and panting. Both he and Kidomaru now had a red dot at the base of their palms, the ANBU symbol surrounding it, which also blood red. Ezo also bore a target on his left calve, stomach, and right upper-arm. _**These arrows are really something! I can't even hide behind trees!**_

Kidomaru let another arrow fly, and Ezo was forced to abandon his hiding spot. The wood shattered as the Nenkin (Golden Thread) arrow flew through it, nearly hitting the target on Riddin's left leg. Kidomaru smirked now that Ezo was in midair, where he couldn't dodge. He fired once more, aiming for Ezo's heart.

Ezo took a deep breath before yelling at the top of his lungs, releasing as much Chakra as he could at once. The waves progressively slowed the arrow, chipping away at it, but it wasn't enough to stop or destroy it. The arrow shot through Ezo's lower torso, blowing out the back with a spray of blood, creating a fist-sized hole in Riddin's stomach. It missed the target by three centimeters. (About an inch)

_**Using Chakra against the arrows seem to deter their path, if only slightly,**_thought Ezo. He landed and clutched at his stomach, holding completely still. White, misty Chakra leaked from his hand, as well as around the wound itself, and it slowly closed up. _**But that was close, I almost deterred it right into a target...**_ He looked up to see Kidomaru already nocking an arrow. _**Damn...**_

Ezo dove out of the way, barely avoiding the arrow. But the branch Ezo was on wasn't huge, so the arrow completely destroyed a section of it, disconnecting it from the trunk. Ezo jumped, and continued healing while in midair. By the time he landed on the nearest branch, he was already healed.

_He doesn't seem to be able to heal while moving,_ thought Kidomaru. _He can only heal in midair because he's not really moving any muscles... So if I can get him in the air when I have several arrows, he'll be a sitting duck._

- - -

"Zzz..." Sakon and Ukon were fast asleep, sitting high on a tree branch. They didn't really have a choice, their bodies had to recuperate. Tayuya stared at them for a few seconds before walking up and hitting Sakon over the head.

"Wake up, you lazy shits!" Tayuya yelled. "We gotta get Sasuke!"

"Uh..." Sakon rubbed his head. "What? What happened? Is anyone dead?"

"No," Tayuya said, sounding almost disappointed. "Though the stupid Jirobo got his fat ass kicked by a little girl. Who the hell knows where Kidomaru is, he's probably off playing one of his retarded games."

Sakon slowly stood. "So, we have Sasuke?..."

"Fat-ass is keeping him occupied," Tayuya replied.

"Good. We need to hurry up and give him the _Seishingan_. I'm sure Orochimaru-sama is growing impatient, even though he's already inside a new vessel. " (The drug that upgrades the Cursed Seal)

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Tayuya said impatiently. "Can we just go? Damn, I just wanna go home and get some sleep."

"Ah, is Tayuya-chan bitchy without her sleep?" Sakon taunted. Tayuya took a swing at him, and Sakon ducked.

"She's bitchy 24-7, bro," Ukon chuckled. Tayuya swung her leg, kicking Sakon in the face, knocking his head back and bashing into the back of Ukon's head.

"Hurry up, you dumb-asses," Tayuya growled, jumping to a lower branch.

- - -

". . ." Naruto looked around, utterly lost. There was a loud crashing sound, and he looked up. Wooden splinters rained down on him, and he shook his head furiously, brushing them all off. "What the heck?..."

He had walked in a complete circle, and was now under Ezo and Kidomaru. Talk about a bad sense of direction.

- - -

"I hope Sasuke-kun is okay..." Sakura thought aloud, sitting across from the sleeping Rayn. "Ah, what am I worried about? He'll be fine! They might have the upper-hand when they gang up on him, but one-on-one will probably be a breeze for him!"

Then she saw the girl and the two-headed guy in the treetops, heading for the place Sasuke was fighting the big guy. Sakura sprang up, glancing at Rayn. _What do I do?_ Sakura wondered frantically. _Not even Sasuke-kun can take on three at once... But he told me to stay here... But that doesn't matter, he said that when there was no problem... Do I go with the mission, or with my friend?_

- - -

"**Naruto, what the heck are you doing here?!" **Ezo yelled, not bother to mask his voice. **"I told you to stay with the girls!"** He launched himself from the tree, narrowly missing an onslaught of arrows. The trees around him seemed to explode, and splinters rained down on and around Naruto again.

"I couldn't find them!" Naruto called up, smiling awkwardly. Naruto then noticed all Riddin was doing was jumping around in the same basic area. "...Why aren't you fighting back?!"

"**It's a game!" **Ezo explained, dropping down from the branch. He touched the trunk, and it glowed a faint white. _**Crap, I'm exhausted!.. Another minute or two, and I'll lose this game... He's gotta run out soon!**_

_This bastard..._ thought Kidomaru. _How can he move this quickly for this long?! He seems to have caught on to my strategy, he's not making any big jumps. I'm beginning to feel a big tug on my body... I need to wrap this up in two minutes or less!_

"What kind of game is this?" Naruto demanded. "It seems like either Riddin dies or gets to say 'Ha, I won!'"

"**That's 90-percent of games!" **Ezo laughed. **"But I have something to gain! And he gets to kill me if he wins, obviously!"** Naruto stared up at his fellow Jinchuuriki like he was insane. Maybe he was. **"But I'm confident, and the bet is worth it! Now find the girls!"**

"But I have no idea where they are!" Naruto pointed out.

Ezo jumped around a little before stopping on a specific branch. He poked himself in the chest, as if goading Kidomaru. Kidomaru launched an arrow, and Ezo dodged -- though it nicked his side, some blood spilling, only to be healed almost instantly. Ezo then pointed at the destruction the arrow was causing, **"That way!"**

"_Yosh_, I'm on my way!" Naruto assured loudly, sprinting full speed.

- - -

"Finally," Sasuke sighed when he saw Tayuya and Sakon, getting sick of sparring with Jirobo already. "Hurry up and give me that pill." (PLOT TWIST!?)

As soon as they had been out of Sakura's eyesight, Sasuke had paused the fight to tell Jirobo he wanted to go with them. Then Tayuya had showed up. Once she had left, the two of them began 'sparring,' both to pass the time and just in case one of Sasuke's comrades or clients found them.

"We can't do that until Kidomaru is here," Sakon replied, sounding as if he was trying to be respectful. "But I'm sure you would be able to detect his Chakra levels with your Sharingan, Sasuke-sama..."

"Maybe, maybe not," Sasuke said, activating the Sharingan. "But I know where Yoshimitsu is, and he should be dealing with this Kidomaru." He saw the white flashes off in the distance, and took off in that direction. "Let's move..." Sasuke made absolutely sure Sakura could not see him, always keeping a tree between him and her.

He found Riddin free of the white Chakra, (in other words, normal, Riddin is in control from hereon out) barely standing on one of the only branches in the area. He was bent over, breathing hard. Sweat was pouring off of his body, soaking his white clothes. Kidomaru nocked his final arrow -- he just barely had more Chakra than Riddin.

"Game over, man," Kidomaru panted. "It's been real fun, one of the longest games in a long while. But I win..."

"Kidomaru!" Tayuya yelled, the first to actually get there. "Hurry up and kill him!"

"Huh?" Kidomaru loosened his grip on the bow and arrow, letting it go slack. He stared at his amassing comrades for a few seconds before yelling in frustration. "Why?! Why did I have to boast?! Why couldn't you guys gave gotten here three seconds later?!"

"What _are_ you bitching about, you six-armed freak?" Tayuya demanded.

"Just pull your arm back, and let go!" Sakon agreed. "Put a hole in his head already!"

"I... can't, I'll... die!" Kidomaru yelled. "I... lost... I actually lost.."

Riddin began laughing, falling down onto his back. He thrust both fists up, still laughing. "Tayuya-chan!" Riddin yelled as loud as he could, which was surprisingly loud. "I love you!"

"?" Tayuya stared at him like he was insane, blushing a minute amount. "What the fuck?"

"It appears Kidomaru had a bet going," Jirobo said. "If we got here before Kidomaru could kill _Kokuhana_, _Kokuhana_ wins. We got here before he actually release that arrow, so Kidomaru lost."

"So... `cuz I got here first, that's why that dumbass is yelling that?" Tayuya finished, looking up at Jirobo. "I didn't know you were that perceptive, fat-ass."

- - -

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called, hurrying forward. "Are you around here?"

"Naruto?" Sakura poked her head from the tree's shelter. Naruto was reminded of where Sakura had hidden back in the Chuunin Exams, when he and Sasuke were out cold. "Naruto, where's Sasuke-kun? I think the fight moved in the direction you came from. And where's Riddin?"

"Riddin said I should wait here with you until he said otherwise," Naruto replied. "And, uh... I dunno about Sasuke. I didn't see him. Why?"

"Well, I saw some of the Sound hurrying to where he was fighting the big one, but then I saw all the Sound hurry in the direction you just were... You... You don't think that-?"

"No way!" Naruto assured with a big grin. "I bet they were retreating or something!"

- - -

"Anyway," Sasuke said impatiently. "Can we start now?"

"Huh? Right," Sakon said, shifting in his pockets. "Where the hell is that bottle?..."

"Oh, wait!" Kidomaru exclaimed, remembering something, and he hurried over. He rifled through his pockets and pulled out the bottle filled with brown pills. "You gave it to me earlier, remember? Sasuke-sama, all you have to do is take this, we'll take care of the rest."

Sasuke took a pill, staring at it before looking up at the Sound. "So, I take this... and I die? `The hell is the point?"

"Our abilities will soften 'death' to just a 'temporary coma,' while your body gets used to the Level Two," Sakon explained.

"Give us a break, Sasuke-sama!" Kidomaru grinned. "We're usually Orochimaru-sama's elite guards! So our strongest skills are barriers and seals!"

"But we should probably get on the ground," Sakon added, looking over the edge of the branch. "If you fall from up here... It'll just be easier from the ground." So they all worked their way down, leaving Riddin lying on the branch.

_I can't die yet..._ thought Sasuke, staring at the pill once he hit the ground. He looked up at Sakon, who was placing his hand on the inside of a large scroll, summoning what looked like a massive bucket. _But if I've come this far, there's no going back.... At least not easily. _He looked up at the Sound. _Sorry, Sakura, Naruto._ "I'm counting on it." He popped it inside his mouth, and swallowed it.

"Ugh..." Sasuke clutched his stomach, falling to his knees. "Argh!!..." His knees slid apart, and he dug his face into the dirt.

"!" Kidomaru's eyes widened. Ugh..." Kidomaru looked at his top-right hand to see the Blood-Pact Seal was glowing a faint red. Then it turned black, and fiery marks began to spread in a swirling motion, covering his hand and slowly crawling up his arm. It hurt like nothing Kidomaru had ever experienced -- and he had experienced both the Cursed Seal injection and the _Seishingan_.

Not noting Kidomaru's condition, Jirobo grabbed Sasuke from under the arms and set him into the bucket-like-coffin. The Sound Four got their distance, creating a square around the coffin. Well, a triangle, because Kidomaru was rooted to the spot, staring at the _Chi-Kyoutei Fuu_ slithering up his arm.

"What the hell is your problem?" Tayuya demanded. "Unless you hurry up, Sasuke-sama's gonna die!"

"Why is it spreading?" Kidomaru demanded weakly, falling to his knees. "What did I do wrong? ARGH! The game is over!"

"Precisely," Riddin called from up on the branch, still lying on his back. "I won! 'You cannot harm me, Yoshimitsu Rayn, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, or Uchiha Sasuke -- whether directly or indirectly!'"

"That doesn't explain..." Kidomaru groaned, the Seal beginning to spread across and around his torso.

"Ukon, you're going to have to do this!" Sakon hissed. Ukon pulled himself out and hurried over to where Kidomaru should have been.

"Of course it explains it!" Riddin laughed. "You gave Sasuke the _Seishingan_! It caused him harm! You indirectly harmed him! I'm not sure whether Ezo meant for this to happen... But maybe he noticed the pills when he got close, and worded it that way on purpose! I wouldn't put it past him! Now you're out of the way much sooner than earlier planned!"

"Planned?..." Kidomaru mumbled, collapsing onto his stomach. The Seal reached his left pectoral, and he felt like something was squeezing his heart. The Seal was based on a Tenketsu, so the seal could spread through the Chakra system. And since the Chakra coils were interwoven with the organs...

"You idiots..." Kidomaru groaned. _Why aren't you even reacting to me dying only meters away? Dammit... Listen to the kid! He's... Ugh... _Blood flowed from Kidomaru's mouth, and his body shook for a moment. Then he was absolutely still, and then he died.

"Alright, let's begin!" Sakon said, making the Tiger seal. He nor the others were paying enough attention to hear Riddin say anything about a plan. The others made their hand seals, and a black mist began to billow from the coffin. The four of them all thrust their hands down, sealing the mist into the coffin.

"_**Shikokumujin**_!" they all yelled. (Four Seals of the Dark Mist) The mist seemed to spiral, pushing itself into the coffin. The mist hardened into a lid, sealing up the cracks until it was complete.

Sakon pulled out several blank tags and bit his thumb, quickly writing on them. He threw the tags at the lidded coffin, clapping his hands together. _**Houin Fuukon!**_ (Dark Seal) The tags locked onto the coffin, sealing it shut. Sakon let out a relieved breath, "Alright... First step's done."

"Right, let's go," Jirobo said, lifting up the coffin.

_Heh-heh,_ Riddin grinned, silently laughing. _It worked... Holy crap... It worked, the Sound will now leave us alone! Ah... I wish I could move... Naruto'll just sit there with the girls until I get there... No, Sakura will ignore him and come looking. Or Imouto will wake up..._ (Little Sister)

The Sound Four (Ukon taking Kidomaru's place) left at a relaxed pace, too tired for much of anything else. They showed no concern that their comrade had just died. It wouldn't matter much -- Kokuhana was out, the brunette girl was out, the blonde was an idiot and pretty exhausted, and the pink-haired kunoichi was a fairly worthless fighter. Even if they were attacked, it wouldn't matter, they could deal with them.

"Can I go kill Kokuhana?" Tayuya asked, stopping and looking back. "That bastard wouldn't shut up when under my Genjutsu, he annoys me." Riddin hadn't thought of the possibility that the Sound wouldn't kill him and the others, just for the hell of it.

"Feel free," Sakon shrugged.

Tayuya smiled and jumped from trunk to trunk, gaining height until she landed a small distance from Riddin, on the only branch other than the one he was on. He was still lying on his back, and he looked over at her, his eyes barely open. He smiled, but she wasn't sure why.

"What're you smiling for, trash?" Tayuya demanded, whipping out her flute.

"Ha-haa..." He squeezed his eyes shut, laughing. "Ha-ha!... Heh-heh... Ah-haha!..." Riddin lifted his right arm, but it shook horribly. He winced, but pointed his palm at Tayuya. But then it dropped, resting against the branch. "This is just too easy."

"?" Tayuya put the flute to her lips. "Whatever you're yapping about won't matter much, idiot! I'm gonna fry your brain, and there's no little sister to help you this time!"

"For God's sake!" Riddin said loudly, grinning. "Pay attention! I can cancel even the strongest of Genjutsu in three seconds! You'll just be wasting time..." His voice was getting hoarse by now. _Ten more seconds..._

"Let's try it, shithead!" Tayuya growled. She took a breath and began playing, and Riddin's body went rigid for all of two seconds before relaxing again. And then he started laughing again.

"I win! You lose!" Riddin called. _Thanks for getting me out of that, Ezo... Six seconds..._ "_Ara_, and Tayuya-chan!" (Oh) Riddin laughed some more. _Three seconds..._ He groaned and lifted his hand again, still pointing the palm at Tayuya. "_Never_ underestimate a Yoshimitsu!"

"Wha-?"

Wait, I spoke too soon. Riddin _had_ anticipated the Sound killing him for the fun of it. Sorry, guess I got a little overexcited.

"_**Usumaku Shougai no Jutsu**_," Riddin said through gritted teeth. (Membrane Barrier Technique -- one-way entrance) A circle lit up around Tayuya, though she was not in the center, and a green Chakra wall shot from the circle, creating a dome around her. She kicked it, and it seemed to ripple as if water, but it held fast.

"What the hell is this shit?!" Tayuya demanded loudly, hitting the barrier again.

"What's wrong, Tayuya-chan?" Riddin laughed. "Have you gone 'insane in the membrane, insane in the brain'? Ha-ha!"

"..." Tayuya stared at him blankly.

"Not much into rap? Ah, well... _**Kikusari**_!" Riddin yelled, wincing because it hurt his chest, clenching his fist. (Yellow Chains) Yellow chains of Chakra suddenly shot from the trees surrounding Tayuya, from seals Ezo had set up during his 'game' with Kidomaru. "_**Kitekase**_!" (Yellow Wrist Shackles) Two of the chains shot through the barrier, wrapping around Tayuya's wrists. "_**Kiashikase**_!" (Yellow Ankle Shackles) The other two shackles wrapped around her ankles. The chains retracted slightly, pulling Tayuya taught so she was suspended in midair. The barrier faded away, only good for a few seconds.

"What the hell?!" Tayuya roared.

"I set up a few seals around here when I was playing with your buddy," Riddin explained, and Tayuya just barely heard him. "There were only two branches, and I got lucky when you chose the branch I put the barrier on."

"How are you still performing Jutsu with no Chakra?!" Tayuya demanded, struggling in the chains. "You can't even move!"

"True," he smiled. "I can't move much. But I set up the Jutsu when I did have Chakra... It takes no effort to unleash them. Lucky me, yeah? Luckily for you, after the initial use of the Jutsu, it requires more to do anything with the chains. So... You're just stuck there until they deteriorate."

"Or until I break out," Tayuya smirked. She let the lightning-resembling Cursed Seal out, and it coated her body in Level One. She pulled at the chain holding her right arm, and it slinked out of its origin until it suddenly stopped, she had pulled it utterly taught. Tayuya swiveled her arm, wrapping the chain around her arm a few times before tugging. The Chakra actually cracked, the links stretching.

"Damn," Riddin moaned. "All that, for nothing. I was so confident, too..."

One of the links of the chain holding Tayuya's right wrist snapped, and the entire chain disintegrated in seconds. She now had her flute free -- but without her other hand, she couldn't play the notes. She tugged at that chain, and it slinked out before cracking like the previous one. Then it shattered, and Tayuya was suddenly up-side down, held only by the ankle shackles. Her back hit a tree, but she ignored it and put her lips to her flute.

"She just doesn't get it..." Riddin said to himself when he heard the music. "....!" He went under, then came right back out. "I'm immune to Genjutsu because Ezo can cancel it out for me... At least she plays well..."

- - -

Yang's Notes: Uh... Oh noes! Sasuke went with the Sound, even though he declined earlier! And now the client is in danger, more or less... Really, since Riddin has no weapons on him (and Tayuya only has her flute), the only thing she can do is break free from the ankle chains and choke him. (Evil Grin) But Riddin might have an explosive seal on his chest or something... Remember, he had an unidentified red thing on his chest, as shown in Chapter... 10.

It might be a while before I get the next chapter done... I haven't decided quite what to do... Though the Kajiya will definitely maybe probably return. Confused? Good, I'm kinda trying to keep the readers on their toes. Trying not to be too predictable.

I kind of yammer on for the rest of these notes, I suppose you can skip over it. I promise not to cry (too loudly). Remember, reviews and critiques are the equivalent of tissues in my book. ...Don't ask me how that makes sense. But any responses get me giddy (as much as I hate that word) as hell for some reason. So if something was funny, say so! If something was stupid, say so! If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it.

Oh, yeah, before I forget! Did anyone get the 'insane in the membrane, insane in the brain' reference? Old-school (or at least kinda old-school) rap song! Funny story, really. I was rereading this chapter (after my beta read it, mind you), and had that song stuck in my head. ... I just had to do it...

. . .

...Am I going to Hell? In my (and my eternal soul's) defense, Riddin has already made several real-world, pop-culture references (and will make more in the future, I promise) -- one of which was a song. Pretty much all of which have left the surrounding characters confused, with the obvious exception of Rayn (and Sasuke, but who the hell knows _**why**_ he knew '_Numa Numa_').

It's kind of fun, really. I suppose it gives the reader something they can relate to (I'm quoting my English teacher on this one, but apparently that's good). And maybe it's fun for you guys to find these things on your own, if you can even figure out my vague allusions... (I apologize to those of you now rushing to to look up 'allusion,' but again, my English teacher says it's a good term to know/use. You'll apparently thank me later.).

Though, I have heard arguments that real-world references and such don't belong in a _NARUTO_ fanfiction, or any non-real-world fanfiction. If you guys are for or against the whole reference thing, both to real-world stuff and to other manga, please say so. I try to please my readers, but sometimes I just can't help myself.

You can look forward to a '_Spiderman_' reference, I promise you. Maybe, _maybe_, _**maybe**_ a _ONE PIECE_, _BLEACH_, or some other manga reference in a fight. Example (bad example, I know):

Riddin uses the _Henshin Wa _to turn his body to rubber.

Riddin grinned and drew back his right fist, letting the loose rubber stretch slightly. He began twisted his arm, as if corkscrewing it. "_**Gomu Gomu no...**_"

"He's not gonna?" Naruto mumbled to Sakura.

"Oh, he's gonna," Sakura nodded, looking nervous.

"..._**Raife**_-"

"**Copyright-Infringement-Prevention-Punch**!" yells the enemy, socking Riddin in the gut before he could let out the potentially-illegal reference.

"That was a close one," Sakura said softly, letting out a sigh of relief.

- - -

Closing statements: I'm not drunk, I promise. I'm high. High on life! Ha-ha-ha... No seriously, I- **Today's Lesson: Don't do drugs. Seriously, they're bad.** ...Now I feel the need to have ridiculous lessons and morals in my story. I need to stop typing before I piss off one of my few readers. I think I'll pull a _Sopranos_ and just gonna stop mid-...


	16. Chapter 16 Oooh! Shiny!

Disclaimer: Psst! I've got a secret! I've used this same disclaimer 8 times now! Wait, that's no secret! Oh, and I don't own _NARUTO_.

For those of you who haven't noticed, I have a poll running in my profile. I'm kinda disappointed I can't run more than one at once, but... Anyways, I'm trying to see how the readers want things to turn out! I may make alternate endings, to satisfy people -- though only one scenario will lead to the sequel, as the others wrap up the story. So, check out the poll! Swing by my profile every once and a while, I might post different polls!

Also, my gingerbread man army is bulking up. If that confuses you, read the little warning in the beginning author's notes from Chapter 15. ... ("Hey, you two! Quit trying to eat yourselves!") I don't want to count, but the numbers look pretty significant. ("I said STOP eating yourselves! ...Thank you.") They're kind of dense, unfortunately. ("That doesn't mean you can eat _each other_!")

Read, enjoy, and review! (Christmas tree comes crashing down, several dozen gingerbread men on it, and Angel, my dog, runs out of the room.) (Author sweat-drops) For my dog's health, if nothing else.

- - -

Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She and Naruto were still sitting under the tree, and Rayn was still sleeping. They had been like that for only ten minutes, but she couldn't wait any longer. She had to at least try to get out there.

"Naruto... I just can't help but worry," Sakura admitted. "I saw a bunch of Sound nin going toward him, and then leaving a short time later. But... I never saw Sasuke-kun. And then there's the fact that our client is out in the forest in who-knows-what condition. I mean, we might as well check, right? What's it going to hurt?"

"Huh..." Naruto scrunched up his face in thought. "Well, whatever you think is best, Sakura-chan... You're a lot smarter than me, so I trust your judgment."

"But..." Sakura shook her head, "I feel so uncertain for some reason. I just- I don't know what to do. Naruto... forget intelligence, skill, what Riddin and Sasuke-kun said, whatever. You're always so confident, and you always stick by what your gut says. So, what do you think?"

Naruto was silent for a few seconds. "To be honest, I've been wondering why Riddin was acting so strange. His voice was different, too, now that I think about it. He really wanted me to stay away from him, it seemed. Concerning Sasuke, I'm not worried. Even if he's in a tight spot, I honestly believe he'll turn out alright. But, we still have the client to think about... And he was in pretty deep when I last saw him, so..." He nodded, "We'll bring Rayn and go look!"

"Are you just saying that because it's what I want to do?" Sakura asked, narrowing her eyes.

"...No." Naruto had said it so simply, that thought probably didn't ever occur to him. Sakura smiled and nodded. "So, Sakura-chan, I'll carry Rayn..."

"I'll do it," Sakura assured. "You look pretty tired..."

"Well, I've burned up too much Chakra, and got next to nothing done," Naruto said, sounding annoyed. "I can't fight, but I can still run. So, I should be the one to carry the client. Don'tcha think?"

_That's Naruto for you,_ thought Sakura. _His brain only starts working in the heat of things. I guess he's better off than I am, I just lock up..._

"Up you go," Naruto mumbled, picking Rayn up. He put her on his shoulder, and it looked pretty weird concerning she was taller than him by an inch or two. "Okay, let's go look for Riddin...."

- - -

"...." _How is she not catching on?_ thought Riddin. Tayuya tried Genjutsu after Genjutsu, each stronger than the last. She tried piling on Genjutsu, using three or four at a time. But nothing worked. Ezo would just inject his Chakra into Riddin's system, freeing him before any damage was done. It was these small bursts of white Chakra that did it for him.

_I... I can kinda move... _ he realized slowly. He lifted his hand and stared at it -- it was shaking horribly. He tried to clench his fist, but could barely move his fingers. But the bursts of white Chakra were actually healing him little by little. Ezo couldn't give Riddin enough to heal him completely, the seal had tightened so only tiny bursts could get through -- and that was only in life-threatening situations. Good thing the Genjutsu were meant to kill him.

_So... if this goes on... Heh-heh... This girl is actually going to heal me by trying to kill me... Awesome. If only my immune system could get fixed like this._

- - -

"...So we just go where you last saw him," Sakura concluded, Naruto had just told her about his little journey. "We'll just follow the trail of destruction, but toward the source. He might still be in that area."

"Ha, I didn't even think of that," Naruto laughed. He grunted and launched himself up into a tree, barely slowed down by the extra weight. He waited for Sakura to catch up, and then hurried off, landing in the holes of the trees from Kidomaru's arrow.

Only a few minutes passed before they found Riddin, lying on his back on a branch. Riddin was breathing raggedly, his chest quickly rising and falling. He eyes were open, staring straight up, his mouth wide open. His clothes were soaked with sweat, and for a moment Naruto didn't want to approach him because of what was sure to be a horrible stench. He noticed that Riddin's right hand was on his chest, and he seemed to very slowly be unzipping his jacket via finger twitches that would occur every five seconds or so.

Tayuya, though the Genin didn't know it, had already broken free of all of Riddin's binding Jutsu, and was hiding behind one of the few intact trees.

"Yo, you alright?" Naruto called, jumping over.

Riddin looked at him, but didn't say anything. He probably couldn't. Naruto set Rayn down and held his ear by Riddin's mouth.

"I'm- not... dead," Riddin said softly, his voice hoarse.

"Whoa, what happened?" Sakura asked, who had just caught up. "Naruto, move. Maybe I can do something." Naruto obliged, and Sakura kneeled by their male client. She gently touched Riddin's chest, and put her ear near his mouth, but he didn't react. She touched his stomach, no physical reaction, and she leaned closer.

"Even lower," he croaked, grinning. She barely heard him, there was no way Naruto could have. "Even in this condition, I'm sure I'll react."

_Bam!_ She slapped him across the face, her face a bright red. He blinked dimly a few times, a red hand-shaped mark appearing on his face.

"Ow," he moaned, not moving much. "It was... a joke... Damn..."

"I don't think hitting him is gonna do him any good, Sakura-chan," Naruto said nervously, sweat-dropping. To him, she just hit Riddin out of the blue. "If he can't even move, we probably shouldn't do any more damage."

"But-but-but!" Sakura exclaimed, still thoroughly flustered. "He said-... Ugh, never mind!"

Riddin was grinning again. He wasn't even blushing! _Shameless bastard,_ Sakura thought bitterly. _As soon as this mission is over, I'll kill him._

"Guh-guys," Riddin choked. "You see the things Rayn has over her ears? Put them on. I have a few pairs in my rucksack." They had brought it along, luckily. They slipped on the headphones, and their eyes went wide when their worlds went silent. So they didn't hear Tayuya's next song.

However, when Riddin's eyes suddenly fluttered, both Genin stared down at him. His breathing became shallow, and he kept swallowing. Sakura placed her hand to his neck to find his pulse was erratic. His eyes flashed golden, and his pulse slowed back down. He let out a relieved sigh, his breathing deepening again.

"At it again, eh?..." Riddin groaned, inaudible. "Bring it, Tayuya-chan..."

Riddin began unzipping his jacket with a bit more energy, and it was soon completely unzipped, revealing the black undershirt.

"Help me..." Riddin whispered. "Outta- this.. jacket..."

"?" Naruto crouched down next to him. "You say something? Say it slow."

Riddin mouthed slowly, "Get. Jacket. Off. Me. Please."

Naruto made a face and pulled the jacket off Riddin, tossing it aside. Riddin's body seized up, his eyes flying open. A near-silent scream let loose from his throat. Riddin's eyes pulsed golden, and then he was back to normal. Both Genin noticed his eyes weren't the only things that changed -- a choppy spiral design had become visible on what was visible of his stomach. (Draw a line, then draw a line starting at about three-fourths of the length of the first. Continue, making a spiral.)

"We gotta find the girl," Sakura said urgently. "If this goes on, he'll have a heart attack or something."

"No," Riddin breathed. The Genin took a chance and opened up the headphones -- Tayuya had stopped playing. He seemed to have a little more strength in his voice. "Leave... Tayuya-chan alone. One of you- stay here, leave.. Rayn here, the other go after- Uchiha."

"What does he mean go after Uchiha, what do you mean go after Uchiha?" Sakura said quickly, looking at Naruto and then at Riddin. "Where did Sasuke-kun go?"

But Tayuya began to play, and the ninja deafened themselves again. Riddin had another Genjutsu-induced episode, and again the white Chakra pried him from the Sound kunoichi's metaphorical grasp. When he regained his breath, it sounded like gasps -- like the gasps of a healthy person after running longer than they should. When the next spasm hit, he actually yelled, and his fists clenched when he regained consciousness.

"What the hell is going on?" Sakura demanded, opening the headphones back up. "Riddin, why are you doing that? Where is Sasuke-kun? What happened to you in the first place?"

"I'm recovering..." Riddin groaned. "Headed northeast... Long story."

"Why is he headed northeast?" Naruto asked. "Did the Sound guys take something of his?... What the hell could they have taken? !" They shut their headphones again.

"Gah!" Riddin's entire body shook when he went under this time. Riddin's entire body seized up, and his torso lifted up. His eyes flashed gold, his stomach showed the spiral for all of a split-second, and his torso slammed back into the branch. And then he bucked up again, recovered, and bucked down. That went on for a few cycles before Riddin's arm flew out, as if swatting a fly.

"!" Sakura felt a sharp pain in her right cheek. "Ow!..." She felt it, and could feel five cuts -- the middle three deeper than the outside two, with the highest one being the widest. She stared at her hand, which had blood coating the palm.

_Bang!_ Sakura's attention snapped to a thin branch, which suddenly seemed to explode, falling down to the ground below. He must have lashed out a Chakra attack, cutting her cheek before launching out and hitting the branch.

"What the-? Sakura-chan, what happened?" Naruto asked, freaking out a little. He didn't even think about the fact that both their headphones were on, and she couldn't hear him.

"Ragh!" Riddin was now crouching. Sakura wasn't sure when he moved, but guessed it was when his arm lashed out. His breaths were short and quick, his eyes were bloodshot and wide open. His irises were gold, his pupils larger than normal -- they were taking up the same space that his normal pupil and iris took up combined. And then the pupils shrank, his irises returning to brown, and he collapsed.

"Why don't you die, you piece of shit?!" came Tayuya's voice. She sounded exhausted, too.

"_Oi_..." Riddin said suddenly. He was still collapsed, but he was conscious. Sakura knelt down beside him, moving the headphone a little so she could hear him. He reached up and touched her cut cheek, and Sakura blushed. She suddenly felt the white Chakra's coldness for a few seconds, but then her cheek became very hot. When Riddin removed his hand, her cheek was healed.

"You can fight her now," Riddin breathed. He then lost consciousness, his eyes rolling into the back of his head and his eyes fluttering shut.

_Okay... Let's try that new Shuriken-Jutsu that Sasuke-kun tried to teach me!..._ thought Sakura, settling her headphone back on. She pulled four shuriken from her hip pouch, each had a long wire attached. She held two in each hand, the ends of the wires around her fingers, and held her arms behind her. Sakura hurled all four shuriken, and they circumvented the tree that Tayuya was on, wrapping around it several times before embedding into the tree. Sakura tugged, and hoped that she had just pinned Tayuya to the tree.

"Stupid shit!" Tayuya yelled. "What the hell is this?!"

"Here, put these on her," Sakura instructed, hanging Naruto a handful of explosive tags. He jumped over, taking Tayuya's flute and snapping it. He then put one paper seal over her mouth, and then the rest around her. On the other side of the tree, Sakura was securing the wires. _Those explosives should go off in about five minutes..._

- - -

"Where is she?" Sakon demanded, looking back. Ukon was fast asleep, and Jirobo was carrying the coffin containing Sasuke. "She's taking too long. You think Kokuhana's comrades caught up and ambushed her?" (Black-Nose)

"Possibly," Jirobo nodded. "Knowing Tayuya, she may not have actually been _looking_ at Kokuhana. So she wouldn't have seen Kokuhana's comrades if they were silent."

"Damn..." Sakon sighed. "At this rate, we don't stand a chance if we get attacked again... Ukon, wake up."

Ukon's head stirred somewhat. "...What is it?"

- - -

After two hours of tracking the enemy, Naruto carrying Riddin and Sakura carrying Rayn, the two Genin finally caught up. They could see the enemy just ahead. Jirobo was lugging the coffin, with Sakon trailing just behind.

They set the clients down, not wanting them to get caught up in a crossfire if something went down. "Where's Sasuke?" Naruto whispered. He used a sheet that resembled wood, and covered the clients with it -- so it looked as if they weren't there. (Naruto has used something similar to this, to blend in with a fence)

"I... I think he's inside that..." Sakura gulped, the two of them moving on. "...Coffin."

"Whoa, he's not dead, is he?" Naruto asked softly, bewildered. "There's no way they'd go to all this trouble, say they're _not_ going to kill him... and then kill him."

"I dunno, but him being in the coffin is the only thing I can think of," Sakura sighed. "..." She looked up at the early-night sky. "Do we wait until they rest, or attack now? Either we manage to get in some lethal blows in an ambush, or we attack now hoping they're still exhausted."

"Damn... I'm not sure..." He grinded his teeth together, clenching his fists. "But I'm getting more and more pissed the longer we watch these guys..."

"There's something off, though," Sakura said slowly. "I feel like we're missing something..."

"Hey..." Naruto said, thinking aloud. "Didn't that guy with the lipstick have two heads?"

"!" Sakura's eyes went wide. "How could I not notice that?" _I must have been focusing on the coffin too much... Damn! That guy can split in two or something... So where's the other one?_

"Yo, Jirobo," Sakon suddenly said. "Let's stop for the night. You didn't fight so much, so use a _Doton_ and get us underground."

"Right," Jirobo groaned, dropping the coffin carelessly. He made a few hand seals, and Sakura furrowed her brow. The seal order seamed oddly familiar.

"That's not the only thing," Naruto said, staring at Jirobo. "There's something different about that guy..."

"!" Sakura remembered where she knew the seal order from. It was the chain of seals for remotely detonated explosive tags. "Naruto-!" She diverted Chakra to her legs and jumped straight up, as high as she could.

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, having noticed an explosive tag, launching up after her. Just below him, an immense fireball engulfed the trees. At least a dozen explosive tags must have gone off. Luckily, they had set the clients down long enough ago that the two of them were out of the blast radius. "Holy crap!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes enlarged into white circles. "That was close!"

"We're not out of it yet," Sakura warned, who was squinting down at the two enemies. "Something's still strange... What's worse, now we're open targets in the air."

"No, I think we have the advantage," Naruto said with a grin, beginning to fall.

"H-how do we have the advantage?" Sakura asked, furrowing her brow, now also beginning to fall.

"Look," he said, pointing at the enemy.

Sakura looked down to see Jirobo beings surrounded by smoke, revealing Ukon. Ukon had separated from Sakon and used a transformation. The coffin was a result of that transformation. _So... Where's the REAL big guy?... And where's Sasuke-kun?_

Naruto made a hand seal and closed his eyes. _Fox... Let's get another blast of Chakra!..._ He then ran through a few more. _I hope this works!..._ Naruto made sure Sakura was above him, and then thrust his right palm downward.

"_**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**_!" he yelled. (Summoning Technique) Some yellow Chakra, invisible to all present, stretched out from Naruto's hand. Then invisible red began to spread, making it bigger and bigger. A massive amount of 'ninja-smoke' appeared between Naruto and the ground. Naruto then hit something fleshy, and Sakura landed right next to him.

"Whu... What the hell just happened?" Sakura mumbled.

"Ha-ha-ha!" Naruto laughed loudly. "Toad Summoning! I did this before, but I think you were unconscious..."

"Summoning?" Sakura echoed, cocking an eyebrow. "That can't be right... We're not falling, and there's no way a... toad..." She seemed to shiver in disgust, "...Could be... this..." The smoke was beginning to clear, and she saw red skin. "...Big..."

Sakura felt as if her body was slammed down, and she was flattened to the toad. The toad had jumped, as if it wasn't aware it had been summoned yet.

"Eh?..." Gamabunta blinked a few times as he flew through the air. "Who the hell summoned me? Jiraiya?... No... There are two..."

"Hey, boss!" Naruto yelled. Sakura furrowed her brow, thoroughly confused. "I just needed some help, that's all!"

"Call me while I'm in the middle of something," Gamabunta rumbled, reaching the peak of his jump. Sakura noticed there was a slight slur to his words. The 'Toad Boss' was... drunk.

"Heh, sorry," Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "It was kinda a spur-of-the-moment decision..."

_Zuzuzuzu..._ (That little sound effect) Sakon and Ukon slowly rose from Gamabunta's back, both in Level Two form. Sakon rose headfirst, rising up so both arms were out, but he was still merged from the waist-down. Ukon was trying to be more subtle, rising as if on his side -- so most of him was out, but some of his left side was still merged, including his arm and leg. Both brothers had kunai between their knuckles, making a punch even more dangerous.

"See ya, punk," Gamabunta said after a moment.

"Wait, don't you think you should land first?!" Naruto yelled, his eyes widening. The brothers brought their fists back- And the massive toad disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"!!!" Both brothers were silently screaming at the top of their lungs, dropping the kunai. Naruto and Sakura then noticed them -- and both went wide-eyed, thoroughly confused. And disgusted -- Sakura thought she was going to puke.

The left side of Ukon's face looked like it had been slashed by a massive blade, taking off as much as his ear. His left arm was missing, blood spilling from the stump. A few centimeters of his torso were also gone, as if they had been ripped from him, his left leg also gone. There were no traces of the missing limbs. The rest of his body was encased in his Level Two body.

Sakon, on the other hand, had lost everything from the waist and down. A massive amount of blood was spilt, even more so than his brother. His organs now had nothing to keep them in place, and were beginning to slide down, out of his body. Like his brother, what remained was in its Level Two state.

They had both been merged with Gamabunta at a cellular level. But when Gamabunta's entire body was warped away with the Time/Space Summoning, the parts of then that were merged were also taken away, leaving the parts that had exited -- the parts that were now floating in the air -- in place.

But even this couldn't slow the two of them down. _Zuuuuuu...._ Rough, scaly skin began to grow from their wounds. It seemed to be a layered hide of sorts, several spikes poking out. Three spikes emerged from Ukon's lost shoulder, the center spike three times the size of the other two. The side of Ukon's face became plated, a second (yet smaller) horn growing from the left side of his forehead. The parts that hadn't been ripped off were the same color, but not 'armored.'

"That was close," Sakon chuckled. "Really caught me off-guard."

"I know, right?" Ukon laughed. "Damn, that hurt."

_These guys aren't human..._ thought Sakura, her eyes almost popping out of her head. Her body had basically frozen, her mind couldn't think of what to do. She was just too shocked -- going from seeing their grotesque injuries, to their new forms (which were almost as bad) was just too much for her. It didn't really matter, none of them could just move in midair.

Naruto's brain, on the other hand, kicked into started, whichever way you prefer to say it. _I can't touch them myself! _He made a hand seal, summoning about five Shadow Clones. They made a chain, grasping each other's ankles, and began whirling out until one end crashed his foot into Ukon's plated face, sending him flying down. "**U**-!"

All Sakura and Sakon could do was watch, as they were too far away to attack each other -- well, Sakura had kunai and shuriken, but she felt they would be rather useless. And she didn't want to try a fuuma, she might hit Naruto. So all they could do was fall back to earth at normal speed.

One by one, the top 'link' of the chain was released, flying at Ukon at high speeds. The first Shadow Clone socked Ukon in the stomach before dispersing. "**Zu**-" The next released Shadow Clone was hit by Ukon, and dispersed. The third managed to grab Ukon's next punch, allowing the fourth Shadow Clone to sock Ukon in the face. "**Ma**-!" The Shadow Clone that was still holding Ukon's fist began flipping before releasing him, sending him up toward the others -- right into the two feet of the final Shadow Clone (who had been thrown by the real Naruto), as if he had dropkicked Ukon in the chest. "**Ki**-!"

Naruto immediately made the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu _hand seal again, summoning only two this time. Naruto grabbed and launched the first one at the stunned Ukon, who grabbed Ukon's ankles and began flipping wildly. The second Shadow Clone was then thrown by Naruto after Ukon and the first Shadow Clone.

"**Naruto**-!" The Shadow Clone holding Ukon had just slammed him into a thick tree branch, splintering it. The final Shadow Clone began flipping, sticking out a single leg -- and his heel smashed into Ukon's back, and blood shot from Ukon's mouth as the branch nearly shattered. "**Rendan**!" And then the two Shadow Clones dispersed.

"Ukon!" Sakon yelled. "Damn bastard!..." He couldn't do anything in midair like this, yet the blonde could move around using Shadow Clones to throw him about. What was worse, falling from this height normally would kill someone. With the increased speed and poundings, Ukon could be a goner. Plus Sakon had to make sure he landed correctly, or he'd be screwed, too.

_If I can somehow attack the pink-haired girl..._ thought Sakon. _...But how? I don't have any weapons on me, and I have no distance attacks._

Naruto swung from a tree, flipping until he could swing from another branch, until he landed on the forest floor. He looked up at Sakura, completely exhausted. It was only a matter of time before he collapsed. He looked down to see his legs were shaking.

_I can't fight anymore,_ thought Naruto. _And I'm no good at traps or anything... Can Sakura-chan beat that other guy?... Wait a sec, where's the big guy, anyway? Eh, I'll figure that out later._

_Think, Sakura, think!_ thought Sakura. _If only I knew a solid clone Jutsu, like Naruto!... I could attack this guy now... Or if I knew a Katon like Sasuke-kun... Or hell, even a Fuuton like Riddin... Maybe I can use wire and shuriken to tie him up from a distance..._

"Come on, come on!" Naruto said to himself, making the Ram hand seal. "Chakra!... Come on!..." He didn't even get a spark, yellow or red. "Dammit! I can't do it... C'mon, Sakura-chan... You can do this, think of something... This could be our only chance to get an opening on him!..."

- - -

"Sakon and Ukon aren't gonna make it," Jirobo thought aloud. He set down the coffin containing Sasuke, leaning up against a tree. "Kidomaru is dead. Who knows what happened to Tayuya... Looks like it's up to me to get Sasuke-sama to Orochimaru-sama... But I could probably take a quick break."

- - -

Sakura checked her hip pouch. Nothing helpful, just a few scrolls for notes, plus the medical scroll she had purchased back at Firestorm. She didn't even have enough wire to use against Sakon. She had some kunai and shuriken, nothing useful against the guy who survives being ripped in half. She didn't even have any bombs left.

_Wait, wait, wait! I'm such an idiot!_ thought Sakura. _My backpack! I've gotta have a fuuma or something in there..._

Sakon flipped around to glare at her, as if lying on an invisible bed, as if he could do something to her. Sakura smirked at him and reached into her backpack, feeling around until she brought out a fuuma shuriken -- her only one. She held it aloft, and it gleamed in the sunlight.

The last thing Sakon saw on this earth was this blinding light, the sunlight reflecting off the shiny metal.

- - -

Eight kilometers north-northwest of Naruto and Sakura's position was a small town. Despite it being midnight, the town was still lit up with neon lights. A young man with steel-gray hair and dirt-brown eyes, blue jeans and green shirt was leaning up against the wall right next to a building's front door.

"Finally," Kyouku breathed, exiting the doctor's office. He looked down at his arms, which were covered with fresh bandages. He flexed his arms, clenching and unclenching his fists. "Yokoji, let's move out."

"Right," Yokoji groaned, getting up off the wall. He closed his eyes and made the Tiger-Snake hand seal. He took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "Alright, they're south of here. Somewhere between five and ten kilometers, I think."

"South it is," Kyouku grinned evilly, heading out.

- - -

Author's Notes: I purposely cut away from the Sakura-Sakon conflict. I purposely skipped ahead by an hour. I did _not_ purposely wait to include the Kajiya until the very end. They just kind of slipped my mind. Mind you, they've been off, healing and whatnot -- so please don't get on me about plot change or something. Plus, it's about 24 hours since the fight with Maji (the Sound OC dude), which was when the Kajiya withdrew to recover.


	17. Chapter 17 Coffin Go Boom

Psst! I've got a secret! It's 2009! Wait, that's no secret! My New Year's Resolution was to own _NARUTO_, but... It didn't work out.

- - -

The birds were singing. That was the first thing Sakura registered when she awoke the following morning, at around seven in the morning. She rubbed her eyes, looking around. They were still in the Fire Country forests, of course. She had gone to sleep sitting against a tree, using her winter jacket as a blanket. Across from her was Naruto, who was still sleeping peacefully. Or as peacefully as a stretched out, snoring _baka_ could sleep. The Yoshimitsu siblings were sleeping against an adjacent tree, Rayn right in front of Riddin, Riddin's arms wrapped around her as if protecting her. Sakura wasn't sure how he had managed the position, he had been asleep the whole time.

They had not made any progress on chasing Jirobo. They were both just too tired to go on. So after Sakura had landed safely, they had recovered the clients (which proved to be a bit of a hassle, finding the tree they were blended in with) and went to sleep at the base of the trees the clients had been on.

Sakura let out a long exhale, looking up at the morning sky.

_I killed someone yesterday..._ thought Sakura, thinking back to Sakon. (Can anyone say 'decapitation'?)_ Naruto did, too... Two, I think... Wow... It's not as bad as I thought it would be. I guess there have been those younger than us that have killed a lot more people._ The image of the two Mist ninja Riddin killed coupled with the explosion of the Sound filled her mind. _Even Riddin..._

Sakura rubbed the back of her head, and she realized she hadn't brushed it last night. After running, fighting, jumping, running some more, jumping really high, and then falling -- her hair was all over the place. She grabbed her backpack and pulled out a hairbrush and small mirror, beginning to fix the pink mess.

- - -

Jirobo lifted up the coffin containing Sasuke and began to head out. He had fallen asleep, so he had lost quite a bit of travel time. _Only a few hours before he wakes up... Probably around three-o'clock or so..._

- - -

"They're close by, Uncle," Yokoji said confidently. The two of them were jumping from tree to tree in the Fire Country forests after a few hours of slow travel. "Are you ready for a fight?"

"You better believe it," Kyouku nodded.

- - -

Sakura was still brushing her hair about five minutes later, though her hair was pretty much in place. She just wanted something to do, and this was the only semi-calming thing she could think of. The kunoichi let out a slow breath, beginning to watch Naruto sleep for a little while, noticing just how deeply he was asleep.

_He must have used too much Chakra yesterday... He might not even wake up today._ Sakura sighed, burying her face in her hands. The clients, and Naruto, were both basically in light comas. Sasuke had either been kidnapped or... Sakura gulped. She didn't like the alternative concerning Sasuke. _Shit's hitting the fan..._ She had to protect Naruto, Rayn, and Riddin, as well as fight the Sound and recover Sasuke. Doubt overwhelmed her. _I... I don't think I can do this..._

"Sakura-chan..."

"!" Sakura's attention snapped back to Naruto. His eyes were barely open, looking glazed over. He slowly reached up and rubbed his eyes. Sakura quickly rubbed her eyes, both to make sure she wasn't sleeping and wipe away the tears that had been gathering. She wet her lips, but couldn't find her voice.

"...The others... Are they okay?" Naruto asked sleepily, looking solely at her.

Sakura simply pointed at the siblings. Naruto glanced at them and smiled, nodding. He let out a tired breath, looking up at the sky, his eyes a perfect reflection of the blue expanse. He closed his eyes, thinking for a few seconds.

"What about Sasuke?" Naruto asked after a few more seconds of silence.

"..." Sakura stared at the ground.

Naruto pushed himself into a stand. "We should head out."

- - -

"Where... where are they?" Kyouku demanded, looking around. There was just a bunch of trees, and a strange dome with a hole in it. It looked like an explosion had destroyed that part of it, as the area around it was torn up. "They're not here."

"I... I dunno, they should be right... Oh, damn," Yokoji groaned. He crouched down and picked up the marble-sized metal object he was using as a tracker. "They ditched it." It had actually fallen out of Rayn's backpack when she had been preparing to attack Jirobo and free Riddin from the earth dome.

"But... judging from all these broken leaves," Kyouku said after a moment of thought. "They headed northeast. Which is odd, since they're with the Leaf brats."

"Whatever, let's go," Yokoji said quickly.

"Wait," Kyouku said, raising his hand. "I hear someone."

"Damn Leaves... Stupid-ass _Kokuhana_... Fucking blonde breaking my flute..." (Black-Nose)

- - -

"...Kabuto!" Orochimaru snapped. The spectacled teenager looked away from the computer monitors. "How long has it been?"

"Not long, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go... check on Kimimaro."

(Note: In this fanfiction, Kabuto essentially never had the conversation with Kimimaro about going to go get Sasuke. He simply 'had a feeling' not to say anything. I admit I forgot about the bone-dude toward the beginning, or I would have mentioned it. I might later redo this fanfiction, edit parts to make it easier to read, so it's more linear. Until then, please bear with me.)

- - -

Naruto and Sakura were jumping from tree to tree, both carrying an unconscious client in a piggyback ride. They had been quiet since Naruto had suggested they move out to rescue Sasuke.

Sakura's mind was engulfed in dread, depression, and worry. It all seemed to hopeless at the moment. But as she glanced at Naruto, who seemed so intent on getting back Sasuke, she began to feel bolstered.

"Naruto, I have to ask," Sakura said, still looking over at him. "You used so much Chakra yesterday, especially after summoning that massive toad. I heard you were asleep for three days once... It was from that Summoning, wasn't it?"

"Yeah... But I had drained all my-" Naruto stopped abruptly. He was going to say 'drained all my Chakra to use the Fox's,' but then he realized what he was saying. Naruto shook his head for a moment. He didn't want to lie, but he wouldn't necessarily tell the whole truth. "I had been training all day, really hard."

Sakura nodded, silent for a moment. "So... why aren't you still asleep?"

Naruto launched from the tree branch. "...The whole time I was asleep, I had this image of Sasuke burning in my mind... It eventually became too much, and I woke up."

_Sasuke-kun is motivating him to work through exhaustion..._ Sakura realized. She looked ahead, _How far will _my_ body let _me_ go?_ She looked back at Naruto. _And how long can Naruto keep this up?_

- - -

"Who the hell are you two?" Tayuya demanded. After escaping fairly easily from Naruto's bomb-trap (she only had to break through the wire, which she did with ease after using the Cursed Seal), Tayuya had been homeward-bound when she ran into Kajiya Kyouku and Kajiya Yokoji.

"..." Kyouku studied Tayuya a moment, and then noticed she was of the Sound. "Allies. I understand you're after the Uchiha kid? We're after two of the people he's with. The '_Kokuhana_' you were mumbling about."

"Tch," Tayuya scoffed, smirking. "Then you must be the associates or whatever, from the letter. Heh... We've already got Sasuke-sama. But... I've got a bit of a grudge against that dumbass _Kokuhana_ and the blonde kid."

"So...are you gonna help us?" Yokoji asked, leaning up against a tree.

Tayuya shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

- - -

It was 2:52PM. Naruto and Sakura launched from the trees, landing in a large clearing devoid of large rocks or trees. Jirobo had set the coffin containing Sasuke down, apparently having decided to take out the Leaf annoyances. (Note: This is the clearing the Kimimaro fight was in) He let out the Level One Cursed Seal and turned to them.

The Leaf ninja set their clients on the edge of the clearing, on the opposite side of a tree to have at least a small barrier between them and the impending fight.

"Why are you all so determined?" Jirobo laughed. "Sasuke-sama chose this!"

"Whu-what?" Sakura breathed, her eyes growing wide.

"Bullshit, fat-ass!" Naruto yelled. "There's no way Sasuke would side up with you losers!"

"He's just trying to rattle us Naruto," Sakura said. On the inside, Sakura wasn't so confident. _No way... Could Sasuke-kun really have?..._

- Flashback -

Sakura stared at the ground for a few seconds, tears rolling down her cheeks, before looking up at Sasuke. He had stopped walking away, his backpack on. It was the night of his attempted departure.

Tears fell anew, but Sakura was still determined. "Do you really want to go back to being alone? You told me how painful it was to be alone! Right now, I know your pain!..." Sasuke expression was steely, his back still to Sakura. "I may have friends and family, but..." She nearly choked on her sob, and she said softly, ""If you were to leave..."

Sasuke still didn't turn. "...To me..." Sakura cried softly, trembling. "...To me, I would be just as lonely as you..."

Sasuke's eyes didn't seem quite as narrowed after that, but he still didn't turn. Thoughts and memories of spending time with Naruto and Sakura flooded his mind. He took a breath and said, "From here on out, we all begin new paths."

-End of Flashback -

"Right!" Naruto yelled, pissed. "Here I go!" He then took off for Jirobo.

Jirobo began running right at Naruto, drawing back a fist. He swung, but Naruto jumped, grasping Jirobo's arm in a handstand. Jirobo swung his other arm, and Naruto lunged forward and flipped a little, toward the coffin. Jirobo went through a few hand seals before grabbing into the ground, and then he yanked back -- actually pulling up a rectangle of earth, Naruto (who had landed on his feet) on the other end. Jirobo then swung the giant stone, hurling Naruto away from the coffin.

A purple mist began to flow from the coffin, a fizzling sound audible. The seals holding down the lid were beginning to dissolve. Jirobo then laughed.

"It's just about time!" Jirobo said loudly, dropping the earth. "If you still don't believe me, ask him yourself!"

"?!" The two Genin furrowed their brows.

"Naruto, can you-" Sakura began, but was cut off by a massive explosion. The coffin containing Sasuke had exploded.

Sasuke was just standing there, his back to everyone. The odd thing was, his skin was grayish. His hair was several inches longer, and was pure white. His hair shortened, going back to black -- the gray disappearing, revealing the Level One. And then the Level One receded to reveal his lightly tanned skin.

"...Sasuke," Naruto said, smiling in almost disbelief. Sasuke raised his hands up, staring at his palms.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed happily. "You're free!" Sasuke clenched his fists.

"Hahahaha..." Sasuke was laughing, almost crazily. "Hahahaha..." He held out his arms, staring at the sky. "Hahahaha... Hahaha..."

Realization slowly dawned on Sakura. "No... Sasuke-kun..." He had really chosen this.

- Flashback -

"I..." Sakura began, trembling. "I love you with all my heart!' she exclaimed, placing both hands over said organ. "If you were to stay with me, there would be no regrets... Because every day we'd do something fun. We'd be happy! _I swear!!_"

Sasuke remained silent, and Sakura persisted, "I would do anything for you!! So... please, stay with me... I'll even help you with your revenge... I don't know what I could do, but I'll try my best to do _something_."

She sniffled a few times and then softly said, "So please, stay with me... Or, take me with you if you can't stay here..." She was done, there was nothing else she could day. She just hung her head desperately, sniffing.

Sasuke took a step to look back at her, smiling wryly, "You really are annoying."

-End of Flashback -

Naruto slowly grinded his teeth together, "_Oi_! Can't you hear us, dammit!?"

Sasuke looked back, looking at Naruto and Sakura out of the corner of his eye. Both of them lost their breath -- the designs of the Level One was covering the left side of his face. His sclera had turned black, his iris golden. They could see the sides of his mouth, and he was smiling -- just like that night. "Of course I can, _dobe_. You're being pretty loud."

"Ha-ha-ha," Jirobo chuckled, finding Sasuke's little retort funny. Sasuke cracked his knuckles a little, satisfied with the loud _pop_s. "Sasuke-sama! You go on ahead to Orochimaru-sama! I'll deal with these Leaf punks."

- Flashback -

Sakura just stared at Sasuke in disbelief, and he turned back and began walking away.

"Don't leave!" she exclaimed desperately. "If you do... I'll scream!" Sasuke disappeared from in front of her. "!" He was behind her, his eyes closed, his hand still jammed in his pockets.

"Sakura..." He took his right hand out of his pocket. "...Thank you."

-End of Flashback -

Jirobo smirked as he took a step for the two Leaf Genin. _Bachichichichichi..._

- Flashback -

Sakura felt a pressure on her shoulder. It was not a strong pressure, it was quite light. She blinked before looking at her shoulder -- Sasuke had gently grasped it. She then looked at him, and he smiled slightly.

"Come on," he said softly. "I'll walk you home."

-End of Flashback -

"?" Jirobo furrowed his brow, confused by the sound. He began to turn around when a lightning-coated hand shot through his back, sticking out of his chest. Sasuke had just speared Jirobo through the heart with Chidori. The Lightning Chakra was a different color, it had been tainted by the Cursed Seal's Chakra.

"I think I'll pass on Orochimaru's deal," Sasuke smirked, ripping his bloodied arm from Jirobo's chest. Jirobo's Cursed Seal retreated back to the source, and Jirobo keeled over, dead. You die pretty quickly with no heart. Sasuke stared down at his bloodied hand before looking up at Naruto and Sakura, his eyes un-Sharingan again. Sasuke then smiled.

The knot in Sakura's stomach unclenched itself, releasing the usual butterflies she got whenever she saw the young Uchiha actually content. Sakura smiled breathlessly, an unbelievably relieving sensation smashing into her stomach.

Naruto, on the other hand, just grinned and yelled, "You sneaky bastard! You were acting?!"

Sasuke looked down at his left arm in disgust and crouched down, ripping away a clean part of Jirobo's shirt. Sasuke wiped off his arm before dropping the cloth back on Jirobo, and he walked over to his teammates.

Sakura thought she heard Sasuke mutter, "I can't believe that idiot was right..."

"_Ne_, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, squinting at him slightly. She had noticed the changes, but she wasn't sure if he was aware of them. "Your left eye is different. The sclera is black, and your iris is golden." Naruto recognized it as part of the Level Two form, as he had seen from Kidomaru's transformation. Naruto squinted at Sasuke, wondering if Sasuke had grown a third eye as well.

Sasuke reached up and touched his left cheek. "It does sting a little..." He looked down at his left hand, which still had a few specks of blood on it. He clenched his fist, "But I feel stronger..."

"You, um... seemed to mumble something about some idiot being right," Sakura said, sounding a little uncomfortable. "Who were you talking about?"

Sasuke looked annoyed with himself when he growled, "Yoshimitsu."

Naruto scrunched his face up, "What was he right about?"

"He suggested taking the Sound's offer for the pill, only to kill them the moment I was free," Sasuke replied, sounding agitated. "It took some convincing because..." He furrowed his brow, thinking. "...the Sound mentioned losing 'free will' if the Cursed Seal invades and takes over the body. I was willing to risk it before, but now..."

Naruto grinned, blushing a little bit, "Ah, enough sentimentality. We get it!" He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "Let's just get back home before something else goes wrong!"

Sasuke let out a small smile. "Right, let's get going..." He let out a slow breath, rubbing his altered cheek. "Where's the clients? Don't tell me you sent them to Konoha alone."

"Oh, no," Sakura assured, waving her hands. "They're just over there," she said, jerking her head at the trees. "They're unconscious, so we'll have to carry them back." She sighed, "A day of lugging around an extra hundred pounds..."

"It'll be like training!" Naruto pointed out with a smile. "I'll carry Riddin!"

"I'll carry Rayn," Sasuke offered, shoving his hands in his pockets as he wandered to the edge of foliage.

"Hold up, hold up!" Sakura interjected, running ahead of both of them. The boys glanced at each other before looking back to Sakura. "Sasuke-kun, you're probably in no shape to do anything after that... coffin ordeal. Naruto, you're barely walking."

"I'm fine," they both said dismissively, speeding up their pace. Naruto's tone was nonchalant while Sasuke's was more stubborn than anything.

Sakura got in front of them, holding out her arms. Her eyes were wide, flames igniting in the jade circlets. "You two are going to take it easy! No taking the clients all day, running full speed for home! Got it?!"

Naruto gulped loudly, his eyes wide with fright. Sasuke seemed a little put off, though not frightened like his blonde teammate. Naruto began nodding dimly, afraid Sakura would add a few more injuries to his already-long list. Sasuke stared at her for a moment before continuing on his way. She had slowed him down, that was all.

Naruto watched Sasuke walk past Sakura, and then looked back at the kunoichi. He pointed at the retreating Uchiha as he said, "So, if he's not gonna stop, do I have to?"

Sakura let out a small sigh. "Naruto, just..." She looked up at him, concern replacing the anger. "...don't push yourself."

Naruto was a little surprised by the sudden burst of emotion, so he looked away and blushed. When he gathered the courage to look back at her, he found her blushing as well. Sakura bit down on her lip for about the five-billionth time during the mission.

"I was... kind of freaking out before you woke up this morning," Sakura admitted softly. "So, just... take it easy, okay?" She shrugged, embarrassed, and looked away. "For me, if nothing else."

Naruto blushed even more, rubbing the back of his head. "I can do that," he assured awkwardly. He grinned mischievously, "But I might need some incentive..."

Sakura closed one eye, staring at him. She smiled wryly, "...Like?"

"Like a date!" Naruto suggested loudly, grinning with his cheeks flushed.

Sasuke let out a humored breath from behind the tree, smiling, as he heaved Rayn up into a piggyback ride.

"Why, you..." Sakura growled, drawing back her fist. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, preparing to get his face bashed in. After a moment of no pain, Naruto cracked his eyes open to see Sakura's fist about three inches from his face. Sakura suddenly poked out her index finger, pointing between Naruto's eyes, her fingernail about an inch from him.

"You're on," Sakura said with a playful grin.

- - -

"I can't believe we missed them," Kisame grumbled as he stared into the campfire. The two of them had barely gotten into Fire Country's forests, and had decided to make camp. The shark-man looked over at his partner, who was staring into the flames emptily. "Itachi-san? You alright? You've been awfully quiet, and that's saying something."

Itachi shrugged. "I'm tired, I suppose." He looked to be in thought, or at least to Kisame. "I'm sure I'll be alright after a night of sleep."

- - -

Sakura wandered out of the woods into the clearing the others were in, darkness having already engulfed the forest. An almost-full moon lit up the sky, hundreds of stars visible out in the middle of nowhere. She was lugging several logs for firewood (along with a few sharp sticks), her hands a little chafed up, several splinters in her forearms. She wasn't going to complain about the discomfort, but her feminine instincts worried about the condition of her skin.

She watched Sasuke stare at the water of the river they had camped by, several kunai in his right hand. Several fish suddenly jumped up into the air from the river, and Sasuke released several of the kunai -- nailing three of the fish and pinning them to the other side of the river. Sakura assumed Naruto was underwater, scaring the fish.

"I got the firewood!" Sakura called, lifting the logs a little. She dropped the logs, making sure not to crush her feet. She then looked over her arms, grimacing slightly. _Maybe I can try some Medical Ninjutsu._

Sasuke glanced at her, showing that by now the Cursed Seal had retreated, and nodded before looking out at the other side of the river -- there were seven speared fish wiggling on their respective kunai.

"Naruto, that should be good," Sasuke called, waving at the blonde, who was still underwater. Naruto surfaced, his blonde hair lying slick. "Get the fish, I'll get the fire started."

"Right!" Naruto exclaimed, swimming over to the food. He pulled himself onto dry land, gathering the fish, and then walked across the water. Sakura replaced the kunai with the sharp sticks, sticking the other end into the dirt.

Sasuke arranged the logs before breathing fire onto them with a quick Jutsu. Sakura arranged the spits around the small, though bright, fire. Sakura and Naruto sat in front of the fire, the latter still drip-drying, the flickering flames being the only light other than the moonlight. Sasuke lugged the clients from resting against a tree to sitting in front of the fire, placing them next to each other. He sat down with his legs crossed, his left elbow on his knee and his cheek propped up on his left hand.

"When do you figure they'll wake up?" Sakura asked, examining Rayn's face, the shadows flickering from the inconsistence of the flame.

"Rayn will probably wake soon," Sasuke replied, poking the firewood with a spare stick with his right hand. "I don't even know why she's unconscious... After the acts you two described of Riddin, he might be out for days while his body recovers."

"As if traveling with him while he could move on his own wasn't difficult enough," Sakura sighed, rubbing her temples. Naruto giggled childishly, and Sasuke rose an eyebrow at Sakura, slightly humored. "What happened to those metal guys?"

"..." The guys shrugged. "Didn't you mention them retreating after the fight with that Sound hybrid?" Sasuke asked, referring to Maji as a 'hybrid' from his mix of other Sound shinobi's Jutsu.

"Well, yeah, but I meant why we haven't seen them again," Sakura explained.

- - -

"Alright..." Tayuya cracked her knuckles loudly. Without her flute, all she had was Taijutsu and the kunai and shuriken the Kajiya had given her. "You two ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Yokoji replied. He was wearing several thin plates of metallic armor under his clothes, each with the _Henshin-Wa_-copycat seal that allowed him and his uncle to control metals other than those they created.

"Always ready," Kyouku chuckled. Unlike his nephew, Kyouku bore no armor. He had a kunai holster on either leg. He also had two kunai holsters on each forearm, hidden under his long sleeves. Every kunai he had was marked with the controlling seal.

The kunai were too small to hold enough Chakra to be able to be moved about in midair -- Kyouku could only launch them from their holsters like missiles. Luckily for the good guys, none of them were explosive.

The three of them were crouching on a branch, high in the treetops. The Leaf trio and their clients were just barely within sight. There was nothing but grass, trees, and a few rocks around them. They had just stopped running and made camp, only Sasuke remaining outside for the night watch -- the others inside the two tents. So unless Sasuke decided to look up at an angle of 35 degrees, turn around, and squint through several layers of foliage, there was little to no chance of the three of them being spotted.

Tayuya let out a slow breath. She closed her eyes, focusing on opening up the Cursed Seal. When she opened her eyes, the lightning-like pattern began to spread. "Then let's kick their sorry asses."


	18. Chapter 18 Electrical Alarm Clock

Disclaimer: Psst! I've got a secret! I- DISCLAIMER INTERRUPTED

Riddin wandered out into the "Disclaimer Void" of the " Universe." Which happened to be completely white, so it looked like he was just kind of floating there. There were hundreds of thousands of small frames, a moving picture on the inside -- these portals led to the different fanfictions of . In order to get to the stories, you had to go through the "Disclaimer Sector." Confusing? That's normal. The internet and its properties tend to be.

Riddin noticed the readers (mental viewers, I guess?) peering at him, and furrowed his brow. He jogged up, putting his face right in front of the camera, fogging it up a little. He sweat-dropped and wiped at the screen with his sleeve.

Once it was clean he said loudly, "Yo! Ain't it kinda obvious Yang doesn't own _NARUTO_!?"

Riddin slapped the camera, and it span around and around until it stopped -- and it was focusing in on "The Art of Deception, Part 1" by Taijitu-no-Yang.

Rayn popped up, temporarily blocking the view of the fanfiction's portal. "The team really appreciates reviews and critiques, even if it's as simple as saying you enjoyed a certain part, or simple encouragement such as 'Can't wait for next chapter!'"

. . .

Bit of a strange disclaimer, eh? Enjoy.

- - -

Last time, on my totally awesome fanfiction: (little egoistic, _ne_?)

"Alright..." Tayuya cracked her knuckles loudly. Without her flute, all she had was Taijutsu and the kunai and shuriken the Kajiya had given her -- and with no music, she couldn't control the _Doki_ summons. "You two ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Yokoji replied. He was wearing several thin plates of metallic armor under his clothes, each with the _Henshin-Wa_-copycat seal that allowed him and his uncle to control metals other than those they created.

"Always ready," Kyouku chuckled. Unlike his nephew, Kyouku bore no armor. He had a kunai holster on either leg. He also had two kunai holsters on each forearm, hidden under his long sleeves. Every kunai he had was marked with the controlling seal.

The kunai were too small to hold enough Chakra to be able to be moved about in midair -- Kyouku could only launch them from their holsters like missiles. Luckily for the good guys, none of them were explosive.

The three of them were crouching on a branch, high in the treetops. The Leaf trio and their clients were just barely within sight. There was nothing but grass, trees, and a few rocks around them. They had just stopped running and made camp, only Sasuke remaining outside for the night watch -- the others inside the two tents. So unless Sasuke decided to look up at an angle of 35 degrees, turn around, and squint through several layers of foliage, there was little to no chance of the three of them being spotted.

Tayuya let out a slow breath. She closed her eyes, focusing on opening up the Cursed Seal. When she opened her eyes, the lightning-like pattern began to spread. "Then let's kick their sorry asses."

And here's Chapter 18:

The trio of baddies launched forward, remaining silent as their clothes whipped around from the speed. Yokoji went through a few hand seals as he neared the Leaves' camp, and when he launched over the campsite, he let out a large fireball -- enough to easily engulf one of the tents.

It burst into flames, and Sakura frantically dragged Rayn out from the flames. Sasuke look up, staring at them for a moment before running for one of the larger trees.

Kyouku sent several of the kunai for Sakura and Rayn, hoping Sakura wouldn't be fast enough with the extra weight. She just barely was, managing to get behind some cover. Naruto burst out of his tent, making a hand seal and summoning two Shadow Clones.

Yokoji flipped and landed on a branch before blasting three more fireballs into the campsite. The team managed to avoid them, but Naruto and his clones were intercepted by Tayuya. She decked the first clone before tossing a kunai into the second clone's face. Naruto managed to avoid the second thrown kunai, trying to get some distance.

Kyouku hit the ground and made the _Kaneton_ (Metal Release) seal, heating the pebbles under the tent Naruto had exited -- where Riddin was still sleeping. A massive tower shot through the tent, bringing Riddin up with it and hurling him into the air. He lost momentum and fell to the ground with a dull _thud_ -- and he slowly woke up, rubbing his head.

Tayuya threw her fist into Naruto's face, and he disappeared in a puff of smoke. It had been a Shadow Clone -- and it had actually had enough Chakra to create two more clones from its limited supply.

"He's pretty smart for a blonde," Tayuya muttered, glancing around. "So where is he?"

Kyouku turned his attention to the tree Sakura and Rayn were behind, and he made some strange movements before a block of metal rose from the ground. He ran his hands along the metal, as if cutting it with his fingers, and it sharpened into a large spear. He then thrust both fists at the tree, and it hurled itself at the tree -- shattering through it. There was a loud feminine scream, and then silence again.

"Sakura-chan!" Sasuke exclaimed, his eyes widening. Riddin glared at Sasuke for some reason, and Sasuke blinked dimly. He glanced at Yokoji, who blasted another fireball, and the Uchiha dove out of the way.

"You idiot!" Riddin yelled at Sasuke. "THINK!"

"Ah, damn," Sasuke muttered, frantically running to avoid the oncoming fireballs.

Kyouku smirked and used a quick Earth Release to launch a small stone at Sasuke, which knocked the boy's feet out from under him. Sasuke fell on his face, and the last fireball Yokoji managed to fire engulfed him.

"Wait up, I want _Kokuhana_!" Tayuya yelled when Kyouku made a hand seal. (Black-nose) She hurried up to Riddin, who's body was shaking -- he still couldn't move. Tayuya smiled evilly as she wrapped her hands around the young man's throat, lifting him until he was standing. Tayuya was too short compared to Riddin to actually lift him, so that was all she was going to get. "Good bye, shit-head."

The fireball that hit Sasuke finally quenched itself, revealing nothing but burned ground. It was as if Sasuke had never existed.

Oddly enough, Riddin smiled. He made eye contact with her, and his eyes became sky blue. "See ya," Riddin said brightly, grinning even wider. His hair turned bright blonde before his nose lost its unique black, his cheeks gaining whisker marks. The Naruto Shadow Clone grinned and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Whu... what the hell?" Tayuya muttered, looking at her palms dimly.

"They were...." Yokoji said slowly. "All that blonde kid's Shadow Clones?"

Kyouku let out a roar of anger, lifting the spire he had created to kill 'Riddin.' He flipped it until it was horizontal, and he sent it flying into the trees, knocking over the wooden behemoths.

There was no river. There was no campfire, nor any evidence of one. The real Leaf shinobi had never even put up the tents. The Kajiya and Tayuya had tracked and followed Shadow Clones, in the wrong direction. Naruto and gang, the real ones, had simply eaten by the river before taking off for a nearby town -- one that was out of the way of their normal route, so there was little chance of them being caught.

- - -

"!" Naruto twitched slightly as he was pulling off his shirt. He, Sasuke, Riddin and Rayn (who were asleep on opposite ends of the only bed) were all in the bedroom of the motel the team was staying at, Sakura changing in the bathroom.

"?" Sasuke noticed the little spasm. "What?"

"I dunno," Naruto said dimly, rubbing his face. "It's like... I got this weird daydream or something, in an instant."

Sasuke rose an eyebrow as he pulled on a dark blue shirt. "What happened?"

"I saw all of us camping... and then fighting for a minute before all of us died," Naruto said slowly. "You don't think it's like a premonition, do you?"

"I doubt it," Sasuke said with a smirk. "But I'm not sure... It might have something to do with those Shadow Clones you made. I don't know the mechanics of that Jutsu, so I can't be sure. Sakura might know, though."

"Speaking of her, you called her by '-chan,'" Naruto mentioned. Sasuke let out a small laugh. "Whu-what? I know you never use suffixes, but it could happen..."

"I'm now sure it had something to do with your Jutsu," Sasuke chuckled. "Maybe you absorb the memories of the Shadow Clones, or something similar."

"How cool would that be?" Naruto said with a grin, tugging on his dog sleeping cap. "That could prove useful... Ha-ha... I could just summon a few clones to sneak into the theaters, have them all watch something different, and I could go train. I'd see, like, five movies and get in a training session all in only two hours!"

"I'm sure whoever created the Jutsu had something more useful in mind," Sasuke replied wryly. "Such as recon."

"That too!" Naruto said with a grin, pointing at Sasuke.

"What, too?" Sakura asked as she exited the bathroom, now in red PJs with white vertical stripes.

"I think I can use Shadow Clones for information gathering," Naruto said with a grin. "...Actually, I planned on seeing a bunch of movies at once, but..."

Sakura let out a small laugh. "That's so typical of you, Naruto... Finding an impractically practical use for a Jutsu."

"Does that even make sense?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know what I mean!" Sakura whined, blushing.

Sasuke chuckled, "I suppose..." He looked to the Yoshimitsu sleeping in the bed. They were both sleeping deeply enough, they almost seemed catatonic. Then again, they slept like rocks normally, so they could have just been dozing. "It's going to be difficult moving with them both out of it..." He looked to Naruto, who stared back dimly. "Added to Naruto and I being weak at the moment..."

- - -

An hour later, the Leaf trio were planning things out, Naruto and Sasuke sitting on the bed, Sakura in the reclining chair near the wall. They were all staring at the clients, each immersed in their own train of thought. Sasuke was in a dark tunnel, as always, so it's unclear what he's thinking. Sakura was winding around the mountain of a task that was left to do for the mission. Naruto's train had pulled in for a pit stop five minutes after starting up.

"One of us should check their states," Sasuke said after a moment. "There may be a reason, beyond exhaustion, that they're still asleep. If they're injured, we should figure it out now. It'd be easier if one of us did it, since it'll cost us to go to the doctor -- plus it's night, they're probably all closed."

"I don't know anything about that," Naruto admitted. "Plus I think Riddin would kill me if he found out I touched Rayn. He'd definitely kill Sasuke."

"Let him try," Sasuke said confidently, a light smile gracing his tight lips.

"It would be quite a sight," Sakura said with a smile, a mental rendition of Riddin getting his ass handed to him by Sasuke running through her mind. "He's a bit... abrasive at times, isn't he? He'd certainly try attacking Sasuke-kun."

"Abrasive?" Naruto echoed thickly.

"He's brusque," Sakura shrugged, still in thought.

"...." Naruto looked to Sasuke, still lost. "He's rude, blunt, 'overly' casual," Sasuke explained, listing off any synonyms that immediately came to mind. Naruto's mouth formed an 'O' in understanding.

"I guess I'll look them over," Sakura said eventually. She was a slight red in the face from the thought of having to undress the two clients, if only a little bit. The boys nodded and each grabbed a client, lugging them to the bathroom for what privacy they could get.

- Another Hour Later -

Naruto had fallen asleep in his sleeping bag, which was on the floor in front of one of the beds. Sasuke had settled into the reclining chair, waiting for the 'physicals' to end.

"Okay..." Sakura said to herself, opening the door of the bathroom, flooding that end of the room with light. She lugged Rayn out, and Sasuke sprang up to carry Riddin out -- unlike Rayn, who's clothes had been put back on so there was little difference, Riddin's seemed hastily put on. Almost as if Sakura had used a stick or something to put them on. The clients were set back onto the bed, Riddin nearly falling over the other side from Sasuke's careless toss.

"What do you think?" Sasuke asked, sitting back down in the recliner.

"Well... Rayn... nothing seems wrong with her," Sakura shrugged. "I'd go with exhaustion. There's no sign of significant bruising, no cuts. I can't get an X-ray or something, so I'd just go with exhaustion."

Her gaze shifted to the male, "As for Riddin... He's really hot, he..."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Sakura had trailed off, noticing his reaction, and cursed herself for her choice of words. Though she had to admit Riddin's body was... well, virtually flawless. Smooth, taught, and clear. Which was weird, he didn't seem like the kind to take care of himself like that.

"His skin is warm to the touch!" Sakura exclaimed, a bright red.

Sasuke bit down on his lower lip slightly, smiling. Naruto woke from the outburst, sitting up a little.

"He's got a fever!" Sakura yelled, even her ears pink. She the put her hands over her mouth, as if embarrassed at her outburst. Naruto cupped his ears with his hands, staring at Sakura in a confused way. Sasuke just smiled. "He also has a horizontal cut across his right bicep, which still hasn't healed. It's black, but I figure it's just a scab."

"That's odd," Sasuke said thoughtfully, furrowing his brow. "He healed a broken ankle, but can't heal a simple cut?"

"Seems so," Sakura shrugged, still red. Naruto found the conversation too boring to stay awake, and turned on his side. "I know I can only barely perform the basics, but I couldn't heal it with Medical Ninjutsu. I think he got it back on the snow island, in the cave, so it's not new. It's probably infected, maybe that's why it won't heal."

"So we'll need to get a doctor in the morning..." Sasuke concluded.

"It might not be important, but he had this red thing over his heart," Sakura said. "It looks like a seal of some sort. It's a circle with a triangle inside, along with some scribbled markings between the triangle and circle."

"Like his _Henshin Wa_?" Sasuke asked. (Transformation Circle)

"No, those usually look more like flowers with raindrop petals, this was definitely just a triangle in a circle. So, I wonder what he sealed?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Probably some trinket of his. It might be something heavy, and he doesn't want to lug it around physically. Or it could be the source of that white Chakra."

"Hmm..." Sakura shrugged, beginning to arrange the clients a little more comfortably in the bed. "I don't think so. When he was using it back in the forest, this choppy spiral showed up on his stomach. I think that's the source."

"Well, regardless, we should get some sleep," Sasuke said. Sakura could tell he wasn't half as curious about the white Chakra as Sakura was. "All our bodies are exhausted..."

"Especially your and Naruto's," Sakura said softly, her eyes softening as she regarded Sasuke get into the reclining chair. "I think we should rest here a while. We've evaded the enemy, we have the time. There's no point in killing yourselves, especially when the clients are clearly in no condition to move themselves."

Sasuke grabbed the lever and pulled, making the chair go horizontal. "I suppose you have a point... Especially considering that the enemy has probably gotten ahead of us. The Sound have been dealt with, the Kajiya are ahead of us..." He put his hands behind his head, getting comfortable. "Alright. If by some unlikely happenstance Naruto and I wake up tomorrow, we'll go looking for the doctor. You alright with sticking with the clients?"

"As always," Sakura assured, giving him a thumbs up.

"Hn." He seemed a little set off by that. Sakura glanced at him occasionally as she got ready for sleep, and he was in thought, staring at the ceiling. That, or he could sleep with his eyes open.

"Sakura, does it annoy you that you're usually stuck with the clients?" Sasuke asked, not looking at her, still staring at the light brown ceiling. "Naruto and I are usually the ones that venture out, or are the offense. You're usually stuck at camp, playing defense."

"Well, you two are stronger than me," Sakura said after a moment, getting into her sleeping bag next to the clients' bed.

"But you won't ever progress if you're always in the background," Sasuke pointed out.

"I'm not that concerned," Sakura said simply. She meant it, too.

"Fair enough..." He closed his eyes slowly, shifting his weight slightly. "Get some sleep, Sakura."

"Good night, Sasuke-kun," she said softly.

"...Good night."

- - -

Rayn slowly rubbed her eyes as she came to. She looked around, confused. _Why aren't I in the forest? Am I... in a bed?_ She sat up and looked around at everyone sleeping. Sasuke-kun was in the reclined chair, Naruto-kun was on the floor, as was Sakura-chan. And _Ani_ was sleeping at the other edge of the bed. It was early morning, maybe around 6AM.

Pain shot through Rayn and she clutched at her right arm, where it hurt the most. Her Chakra system was damaged, she just knew it. After unleashing the seal, an inhuman amount of Chakra had constantly surged through her. Her right arm was the worst, as it was the one she had opened Riddin's seal up with.

Rayn was still amazed at the complexity of the Mangestu (Full Moon) Seal, which was the appropriate name for Riddin's seal. She knew that her clan was especially powerful when it came to _Fuuin-Jutsu_, but this was almost unimaginable. The only comfort, if you could call it that, was that it took three days to prepare the seal itself -- and then the clan had had to actually activate the Mangetsu to seal the Bijuu. So, clearly, it would be powerful.

It had taken several days worth of her Chakra to only open it a miniscule crack with her 'modified key.' If she knew the actual Jutsu, she would have probably released the Five-Tails with the Chakra amount she had used. The Mangetsu seemed to be designed to stay firmly shut within the confides of Riddin's body -- which was why he was still alive despite his illness.

Unlike other Jinchuuriki-creating seals, this one was made by the best-of-the-best and designed (for the most part) to keep the Bijuu confined, not to harness the monster's Chakra. The One-Tail's seal was apparently done professionally, but was specifically designed to overtake (possess) the host. Naruto's was a makeshift seal, and was constantly weakening -- Rayn had picked up on that when she witnessed him use the red Chakra in the forest. That's right, the Yoshimitsu are _that_ good.

Rayn's vision blurred from the pain, and she slowly shut her eyes. She knew she must have lost the color in her face, and was struggling to not vomit. She tried to calmly get out of bed, but toppled over the edge -- landing on Sakura.

"Whoa-whoa, what-?!" Sakura exclaimed sleepily, rubbing her eyes frantically. She blinked when she saw Rayn trying to push herself into a stand, but failing miserably and falling back on her stomach. "Rayn! You're awake!"

"Barely," Rayn groaned. "Sorry for falling on you, Sakura-chan...."

"It's-it's fine," Sakura assured softly, now conscious that the others were still sleeping peacefully. "Rayn, are you okay? You look ill."

"My backpack," Rayn mumbled. "There's a bottle of pain pills in there. Could you get it?"

"Right, right," Sakura said, pushing herself into a stand and hurrying over to recover Rayn's backpack. She unzipped it and sifted through it before finding the bottle and hurrying back to Rayn, opening it as she went.

Rayn took the bottle and tapped it over her hand, allowing three pain pills to fall out. Rayn squeezed her eyes shut and tried making Chakra. It felt like her stomach was lit on fire, but the fire coursed through her Chakra system, and into her left hand. She knew that if she had tried using her right, she would have passed out from the pain. She directed the Chakra into the pain pills, to increase and accelerate their effect. She then dry-swallowed them, gulping several times.

"Even with them enhanced, it'll take about five minutes," Rayn said, sitting against the bed. She held her head between her hands, her entire frame shaking. "Better than the usual twenty-to-thirty."

"Are you going to be okay?" Sakura asked, clearly concerned for the poor girl.

Rayn smiled weakly and gave the pink-haired kunoichi a thumbs-up. A few minutes passed, and color returned to Rayn's face. "Now we just have to wait for _Ani_ to come to..."

"Um, speaking of which..." Sakura said, lifting herself slightly to look at the older Yoshimitsu. "When will he wake up?"

Rayn craned her neck to look at her older brother for a few seconds. "Well... We have two options. We could wait for him to wake up normally, which'll take about another day. Or... we could use _that_ technique."

"What technique?" Sakura asked, eager to get 100 pounds off her back.

"It'd require something similar to Sasuke-kun's Chidori, but scaled down a great deal... We shock him awake, basically," Rayn said slowly. Sakura stared at the girl in disbelief. Was this... _thing_ these two had going on genetic? If so, Sakura prayed the Kami would prevent these two from procreating.

"Shock him?" Sakura said. She pretended to hold shock paddles and pressed her knuckles into the floor, "Like, _'bzzzzzt!'_, shock him?"

Ran pretended to hold two small wires, as if hot-wiring something. She touched the tips of the wires together as she said, "More like _'bvvvvvp!'_, but yeah," Rayn nodded. She abandoned the visual explanation and shrugged. "It jumpstarts him. It's his equivalent of... caffeine."

"_Good-bye, dear, I'm off to work!" "Oh, you look tired, and I just made a fresh make!" "Alright, hit me." BVVVVVP! "Thanks! Now I'm REALLY ready for that presentation today!"_ Sakura's eye twitched. "You're insane," Sakura said weakly, feeling her entire frame sag.

"Maybe just a little," Rayn giggled, closing one eye and grinning, pretending to hold something small between her thumb and index finger.

Sakura's eye just wouldn't stop twitching. She looked up at Riddin, and a (quite embarrassing) thought from last night flew into Sakura's head. It snapped the kunoichi from her spasm, and she looked back at Rayn.

"He has a fever," Sakura said. "Is that normal for whatever he has?"

"Yes, so don't worry!" Rayn assured. "_Ani_'s temperature usually runs about four degrees higher than most people, so 102.8 is normal. And that's without the white Chakra in full effect."

"But the white Chakra is so cold," Sakura pointed out. "I got chills, my hair stood on end."

"Oh, so you've noticed," Rayn said, sounding slightly surprised.

Sakura nodded. She had to admit the white Chakra was a little frightening, it seemed to slow Chakra down, it seemed to alter Riddin, and she could have sworn there was a light savagery in it.

"Well, it's because-.." Rayn stopped short. "Uh..." Her eyes seemed to soften, as if concerned over something Sakura was unaware of. Rayn shook her head, "Maybe another time, Sakura-chan. It doesn't feel right, me telling you. If you're interested, ask _Ani_... But he still might not tell you."

_Is it really that bad?_ Sakura wondered, the thought of the similarities between the spiral seal's white Chakra and the Cursed Seal's purple Chakra running through her head.

- - -DO NOT TRY THIS. EVER. REMEMBER: STUPIDITY KILLS. (Or is it the large amounts of electricity coursing into your spine? I forget which.)

"Are you sure this'll work?" Sakura asked, craning her neck to look over Rayn's shoulder. Rayn was unscrewing the plate of an electrical socket with a kunai, to get to the wires. It was about an hour after Rayn woke up, maybe around 7AM.

"Completely," Rayn assured, moving to the second screw. "Though you should never try this, it only works on _Ani_ because of the white Chakra... Of course, his movements will be... erratic, for a while. He might feel numb... Oh! And he might forget who he is."

"Is this really safe?" Sasuke asked, looking mystified. Despite the last two days of fighting and being transformed inside the coffin, he was alright. That probably had something to do with the soldier pill he and Naruto had taken, but it was hard to tell. They're pretty hardheaded.

"Depends who you ask," Rayn shrugged, slowly pulling the wires out of the hole in the wall. She sifted through them, trying to find the right one. "If you ask a doctor, they'd immediately tell you no."

She tugged on Riddin's arm a little, bringing him closer. He was lying on his stomach, a senbon sticking from the back of his neck. Rayn grabbed the correct wire, and then severed it with the kunai -- and the TV went out.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, angered his program had just gotten cut short.

"And if we asked you?" Sasuke asked. "Would you say it was safe?"

"No," Rayn replied nonchalantly, touching one end of the wire to the top of the senbon, and the other a little farther down. _Bvv-_

The electricity jumped into the resistant senbon, traveling beyond Riddin's skin. There was only a small gap between his atlas (top) vertebra, so it jumped onto the bone and into the nerves. The electricity was engulfed by Riddin's natural bioelectricity, shooting up into his brain in a near-instant. Ezo, who had already become a master of altering Riddin's body, directed the surge of bioelectricity into the correct part of the brain, and it ripped the young man from his slumber.

_-vvvp!_ Rayn immediately moved the wires from the senbon, and then grinned over at Sakura. "See? _Bvvvvvp!_" Sakura's eye twitched yet again.

"Ugh..." Riddin groaned softly. "-The hell hit me last night?..." His left foot and right shoulder began moving, oddly enough. "What the hell?... Why are those moving?"

"It's like Baachan's Jutsu!" Naruto said loudly, standing on the bed to get a good view. "Uh... Something about a nervous system."

"Oops," Rayn said simply. "Sorry, _Ani_. I forgot which vertebra it was, I guess."

"How long does this crap last?" Riddin demanded, his left bicep now flexing. It slowly lifted, but Riddin couldn't figure out how to bend at the elbow yet.

"Uh...." Naruto stared blankly. "I dunno. Kabuto kind of figured out how to work with it, so I'm not sure when it wore off." Sakura and Sasuke both noted the omitted '-san,' the bastard no longer deserved it now that they knew he was a traitor.

"Smart guy," Riddin observed, his head turning side to side until he was looking at his risen arm. "I can't even figure out how to get up, let alone-"

His arm snapped around and smacked himself in the mouth on accident, so he kind of bit his knuckles. Everyone else burst out laughing (including Rayn), though Sasuke only let out a strong chuckle.

"Ah... _Ji-ei-uei_," Riddin mumbled, trying to squeeze his eyes shut but kicking Sasuke's legs out from under him instead. Sasuke was taken by surprise and fell flat on his face, and everyone else laughed -- Riddin's laugh being the loudest. (Gee, A, Way. Translation unknown, likely Land of Mountains slang.)

"How's that carpet taste, Uchi...-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!?" Riddin said loudly, but burst out laughing at the end -- it didn't really matter, he still got Sasuke's name out.

"How'd your fist taste?" Sasuke growled.

Riddin managed to push himself up slightly, getting closer to Sasuke -- who was still on the ground. Riddin had found how to control his arm, so he brought it back for a punch, clenching his fist.

"You tell me!" he said loudly, confident.

He tried to swing, but had apparently forgotten which muscle to move, so his left arm (the one supporting him) flew out from under him, and he fell to his side again. Sasuke let out a small chuckle as he slowly got back up.

"We'll settle this later," Riddin said with a huff, glaring at the Uchiha as he walked away.

- - -

Two hours later, Riddin's central nervous system was beginning to fire correctly again. He was playing _shougi_ with Sakura, though he had actually had to tell Rayn what pieces to move toward the beginning, but now he was beginning to move the pieces himself. So Rayn was watching TV, having rewired it. Naruto and Sasuke had left to find a doctor, leaving the clients at the motel so they wouldn't be strained from the walk.

"Hahahaha!" Rayn burst out laughing. "Nice face-plant, Tori! That'll teach you to try to jump a wagon with a bike!"

"Watch it," Riddin grinned. "Check."

Sakura studied the board for a moment before moving a knight forward, blocking the way as well as putting Riddin's king in check. "Check," Sakura smiled.

"..." Riddin's smile dropped, and he stared at the board intently. His eyes were flicking around, as if analyzing each square, like a computer. His eyes focused on a single piece for a few seconds before glancing to the squares it could move to, and then he seemed to check if Sakura could hit him from there. He seemed satisfied, so he moved his knight.

"Ooh, nice try," Sakura smiled, sliding a rook over -- now it could hit his king, through an opening Riddin had just created by moving his knight. "Check."

Riddin quietly moved his bishop, taking Sakura's just-moved rook. It also put Sakura in check -- through the square she had just moved her rook. Her king could only go to two squares -- one that his bishop could go to (so she couldn't actually move there), and one that Riddin's knight could go to (so she couldn't go there, either). In other words...

"Checkmate," Riddin said loudly, almost in disbelief. "Ha! I never win this game!"

"How do you never win this game?" Sakura demanded. "You just totally annihilated me."

"Luck," Riddin said with a shrug. "I, uh... didn't really notice that I could get you into checkmate with my knight, to be honest. I just moved it there for better defense. I did plan the bishop attack/defense, though."

"You lucked into a perfect counter?" Sakura asked flatly, raising an eyebrow.

"What can I say, I'm a Yoshimitsu," Riddin said with a grin, raising his hands and shrugging. (_Yoshimitsu_ can be translated to 'good fortune light,' though Riddin almost uses here as if it means 'light of good fortune.' Which it pretty much does.)

- - -

"Where are they?!" Kyouku demanded, who had only gotten more and more angered as time had passed. It had been a few hours, and the Kajiya and Tayuya had gone southwest. They were now actually ahead of the Leaves on the way to Konoha, though still in the forests.

- - -

"Have you seen this boy?"

"..." The shopkeeper looked into the questioning man's eyes for a few seconds before he stared at the picture of the blonde boy for a moment. He looked like a bit of an idiot, his sky blue eyes shining even in the picture. "Y'know, I think so. They mentioned something about heading farther east. Not sure where, though."

"Thank you," Itachi said politely, withdrawing the photo.


	19. Chapter 19 Does This Look Infected?

Disclaimer: Psst! I've got a secret! I don't own _NARUTO_! Wait, that's no secret!

As some of you may know, Taijitu-no-Yin (no account) is my little sister and Beta. I, as the author, occasionally refer to myself as the Alpha of the story. Well, I've enlisted another crew member, in some way, shape or form. **Godwolf Fenrir ** has so politely accepted the title of 'Gamma'! (Gamma is the third Greek letter.) So give a quick grin at her username, maybe check out her page or her story, _Killing Perfection_.

ALSO! I got the inspiration for the title for this chapter from one of Sum 41's albums, which had the same name.

- - -

"Can we get something to eat?"

That was at least the tenth time Riddin had asked Sakura that one simple question. It had only been half an hour since their shougi game, and he managed to squeeze ten annoying questions into that short thirty minutes.

"_Ani_, you're annoying her," Rayn said from the recliner.

"I am?" Riddin (who was watching the show with his sister, but from the edge of the bed) looked over to Sakura, who was idly reading some reading material she found in the room against the bed's headboard. "Sakura, am I annoying you?"

"Yes," she said, grinding her teeth together.

"Oh. Sorry. But, uh, can we get something to eat?"

A vein bulged on Sakura's forehead and she hurled the book at Riddin, hitting him in the back of the head. He fell off the bed with a yell, hitting the floor hard. He slowly stood, his body still sore from the previous two days. He didn't yell, as Sakura had expected, but simply rubbed his head and sat back down.

"Uh... Riddin?" Sakura said, slowly crawling over to him. "You alright?"

"Meh... Just tired," he assured softly. Sakura sat next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "But... I'd probably feel better if..." He got right in her face again and said loudly, "I could get something to _eat_."

She gently hit him in the back of the head and stood. She made sure not to show the relief she felt when she realized Riddin's only problem was hunger. "Fine, let's go. Jeez."

"Yay!" Riddin jumped off the bed, turning the TV off by hand. "Let's head out!"

- - -

_Jingle._ The bells rang loudly as Naruto shoved the door open. Sasuke walked in after him, the two of them looking around. Sasuke was reminded of the medical ninja's setup back on Firestorm, it was basically just a lobby with several rooms to act as treating areas, a desk shoved up against the far wall, a pretty receptionist sitting behind it.

"Hello," the receptionist said brightly, and she flashed them a white smile. "How can I help you?"

"Two of our friends need help," Naruto said, walking up to the counter. "We were kinda hoping somebody could make a house call."

"Well, we do that, but it's more expensive and not as effective," she replied politely. "Is there any chance your friends could come here? It'll be much easier to treat them here, where we have equipment."

"They are our clients," Sasuke said, tapping his forehead protector with his thumb. "And it would be much safer if they were not seen."

"Oh, I see!" The receptionist looked a little excited by the thought of it. She probably was imagining some amazing adventure, like most ignorant people did when thinking of ninja. "Are they that important?"

Sasuke replied with a curt, "Not really."

- - -

Sakura and the clients were walking the busy streets, looking for something good to eat. So much for laying low. Sakura was aware of that part of the plan, but Riddin had annoyed the thought out of her. The streets were buzzing with activity, and Sakura guessed it was a festival or something. Shops were open, people of varying skin tones and accents were in town, so something was definitely going on.

Riddin and Rayn sneezed, one after the other. Riddin then let out an annoyed breath through his nose.

"What's up with you?" Sakura asked, looking over at him.

"I dunno why, but I'm a bit pissed at Uchiha right now," Riddin said hotly.

"Maybe he was speaking ill of us," Rayn said, referring to the saying that if you sneeze someone is talking about you.

"You put too much thought into a simple sneeze," Sakura said incredulously.

"Whatever," Riddin grunted, rubbing the black part of his nose. He looked up when a food stand caught his attention. "Hey! You don't see this kinda food in Fire Country much. Let's have this!"

"Eh..." Sakura let out a light whine. "I don't like spicy food much."

"Oh..." Riddin said simply. He looked at a different stand, and then at a machine. "Well... how about we just buy three bento, then?"

"Okay, that sounds good," Sakura nodded. The three of them went to the other side of the street, standing in line to buy a bento from a series vending machines. They all idly looked around as they waited for the people in front of them to buy their food, other people going to the other kinds of vending machines near the bento machine.

"Hey, Daddy!"

"!" The three teens looked over at the little girl that was talking quite loudly. "?"

A young girl and a young boy, the latter a few years older, were with their father. They were both pulling at the legs of his pants, pointing at one of the vending machines -- one that sold ice cream.

"Can we get some ice cream?" the boy pleaded.

"Well... alright," the father said slowly. "But not enough to ruin your appetite, your mom's already made lunch by now..."

The father purchased a bundled Popsicle, two frozen together. The tiny siblings each grabbed a stick and tugged, snapping them apart. The children and their father then walked home, the siblings eating their ice cream. The entire thing was quite insignificant, but it was incredibly similar to Naruto's experience when training under Jiraiya to learn the Rasengan.

Sakura then noticed the Yoshimitsu siblings' reaction to this insignificant event, and wondered if it was truly as insignificant as she saw it.

Both their shoulders, which were usually raised in their good spirits, sagged. Their ever-smiling lips were curved into a slight frown. Their eyes were lidded (Riddin's even more so than usual) , still staring at the family. Oh so much like Naruto. Sakura had never seen the two of them sad, let alone so depressed.

"G-...guys?" Sakura said after a moment. "Are... are you okay?"

Riddin was staring at the ground, not responding in the least. Rayn simply glanced at Sakura for all of a moment, and the kunoichi's eyes softened when she saw the sheer longing in the brunette's eyes in that brief instant Rayn then stared at her feet like her brother. Sakura felt her heart jump up into her throat, and she couldn't seem to gulp it back down no matter how hard she swallowed.

The person in front of them bought their bento and walked off, and the siblings both took a step forward, Sakura still rooted where she was. Riddin sifted through his pocket before bringing out the needed ryou, slipping it into the slot. He hit the button for the bento he wanted, and Rayn did the same. After a few soft clanks, two bento boxes dropped down into the basin. They grabbed their respective boxes and walked away, not bothering to wait for Sakura.

Sakura quickly chose and bought her bento, hurrying after the clients. She hurried into a clearing between buildings, which had several trash cans and picnic tables -- oddly enough, it was only the clients, no one else was eating there. They were already sitting, on opposite sides, facing each other. They were deathly quiet, simply eating with the chopsticks that came in the box. Sakura was unsure whether to sit with them for comfort, or to leave them be.

She ended up sitting at their table, but on the opposite end that they were. They did not look at her, they didn't even look at each other. They were absorbed in their food, eating much slower than normal -- which was saying something for Riddin, who usually ate ravenously.

Sakura felt her appetite had been drained, but she still picked at her food. She kept looking up at the dejected clients, who were still eating slowly. Riddin suddenly reached over and took some of the teriyaki from Rayn's bento. Sakura was about to scold Riddin for not even asking, but then Rayn took some of the tempura from Riddin's. Sakura realized that Rayn hadn't touched her teriyaki, and Riddin hadn't had a bite of his tempura.

- - -

"There's a bit of a wait," the doctor said to both Naruto and Sasuke. He was kind of an old guy, scrawny and wrinkly. His head was shaved, or just very, very bald. They had caught him before he could get into another patient's room. "In the mean time, my assistant is free in the other room. You two could get a quick check-up."

The boys glanced at each other. "We might as well," Sasuke shrugged. Naruto nodded his agreement.

- - -

After a few minutes, Rayn's bento was empty -- Riddin's was still half-full. Riddin stopped eating, looking up at his little sister. Rayn's stomach growled softly, and she blushed. Riddin ate the last of his minced fish (something Rayn disliked) and slid his bento box over to her without a second thought.

Rayn slid it back to Riddin. "_Ani_, you need to eat. You're growing too, and you need to keep your strength up."

"I'm full," he assured, speaking softly, pushing it back. He got up, patting his stomach. "That last bit of fish did it for me, I'm stuffed."

"Well... Alright," Rayn shrugged, picking her chopsticks back up. "Thanks, _Ani_."

"It's nothing," he assured, walking away. "Eat up, _Imouto_." (Little Sister)

However, as Riddin walked by Sakura, she could hear his stomach growling faintly -- too faintly for Rayn to hear. Sakura watched Riddin walk to the other edge of the group of picnic tables, jumping up on a vacant one and lying on the table, staring at the blue sky.

Sakura looked down at her food, her appetite completely gone. She closed the box, grabbing Riddin's chopsticks. She got up and walked over to Riddin, walking quickly. She glanced over her shoulder to see Rayn eating a little more readily, and Sakura sped up. She sat down at the table Riddin was lying on, and he looked at her without turning his head. His eyes seemed so hollow, even Sakura was feeling depressed.

"Riddin," she said softly. "Why don't you just go buy another bento?"

"I don't have the money," he said, looking back up at the sky. "I only have a grand left. I need to save it for something more important. We spent just about everything on you guys." (1000 ryou is roughly ten bucks)

"Come with me," Sakura said, grabbing the food and hurrying around a corner -- so Rayn couldn't see them. "Eat," Sakura instructed, lifting her two-thirds full bento and his chopsticks to his eye level.

"What?" he said dimly, cocking an eyebrow.

"Eat the food," Sakura ordered. "Now."

"I'm not hungry," Riddin said strongly. His stomach them growled softly again. "Okay, so I'm a little hungry..." His stomach rumbled, much louder than the past two times. Riddin sweat-dropped, closing his eyes, "Okay, very hungry..."

"Eat, you moron," Sakura said with a smile, thrusting the box and chopsticks into his hands. "Being selfless if going to kill you."

"Seems a good way to die," he mumbled, though his legs dropped out from under him, and he fell into a cross-legged sit. He popped the box open and smiled up at her, though it seemed fairly empty. "Thanks. And, uh... I'd like to eat this quick, so you might want to look away."

Sakura made a face, only imagining what Riddin was going to do, and turned around. There was a sick _crack_ of what seemed like breaking bone, followed by dozens of small ripping sounds. Then there were some strange scratching sounds, followed by noisy chomping. Then a loud swallow. A few seconds later there was another _crunch_ of bone, and then a content sigh.

Sakura looked over her shoulder, and blinked dimly. The bento box was gone, the chopsticks were gone, the food was gone. It was just Riddin, sitting there. He licked and then smacked his lips, showing that his teeth were all triangular and sharp. He sighed, revealing that (somehow) there were sets of teeth all around his mouth, as if his mouth was a tunnel of daggers. He licked his lips again, his teeth invisible for a few seconds, and when they were visible again they were the normal human set again.

_Is this guy... even human?_ Inner Sakura demanded, her eyes wide.

_**I hate it when you do that...**_ Ezo mumbled from inside Riddin's consciousness.

"Shut up," Riddin said through his teeth, barely audible, as he slapped his stomach. To Sakura, it looked as if he just patted his stomach after a good meal.

_**I guess I have to whip up a batch of super stomach acid now... Great.**_

"And... Sakura?" She looked back down at him, since her gaze had drifted elsewhere. Riddin smiled faintly, though the melancholy from before was still evident. "Thank you."

Rayn finished her food and looked to where Riddin had been laying down. She blinked when he wasn't there. Sakura wasn't within her field of vision, either. Rayn looked around, worry building up inside of her.

Suddenly, the two of them rounded the corner of a nearby building. Riddin still looked upset from before, but he seemed to have lost the outright depressed look. Sakura looked a little bolstered, even a little flushed, but Rayn wasn't sure why.

"Hey, why are you two over there?" Rayn called.

Riddin grinned, piecing together every scrap of his humor and cheerfulness for his baby sister, and jerked his thumb over his thumb, at Sakura, "She's trying to get me to make out with her!"

"Oh," Rayn said, nodding. She grabbed all the trash and walked in the other direction, dispensing of the garbage in a can. When she looked back at them, Riddin was rolling around on the ground, a large (bleeding) bump on the back of his head. "What... what happened?"

"He tripped and hit his head on the corner of the table," Sakura lied, shrugging.

"**...."** Ezo sweat-dropped from the confides of the black ether that was Riddin's subconscious. _**Kunoichi certainly are frightening creatures.**_

"Is he okay?" Sakura asked, looking down at Riddin. After rolling around for a few seconds, he had become still.

He suddenly stirred, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Ah.... _Ji-ei-uei_." (Unknown Slang) He looked up at the girls. "That hurt."

Sakura simply smiled. Rayn knelt by her brother, checking his new wound. The comical swelling had subsided, and now his head was caked with blood.

"Let's hope you don't die," Sakura said, putting her hands on her hips. "If you keep getting hit in the occipital area..." (Back of the head. There is only one vein going from your brain down to your heart, so if it swells and blocks flow, you die.)

Riddin gulped, a purge of fear running through him. He kept rubbing the back of his head, and broke through the massive scab and some fresh blood leaked out. Sakura squinted and realized there was some of the misty white Chakra leaking out along with the fresh blood. Riddin continued rubbing the back of his head, and Sakura blinked -- there was no new blood. Just the dried blood.

"_Uwa_..." Riddin continued rubbing his head, the dried blood flaking off.

"Do you actually feel ill this time?" Sakura asked, unsure of whether he meant it.

"Yeah," he moaned, and Sakura could see his face was a little paler. "Ugh..." He rubbed his face, smearing some blood on his cheeks in the process, and slowly stood. He gulped as if trying to keep his lunch down.

Riddin let out a small breath, closing his eyes. He then opened them back up, grinning widely. But the simple fact that his eyes were about as bright as mud, an apt comparison considering his dark brown eye color, made it obvious he was not happy.

"But I'll be fine in no time!" he assured, his voice more cheerful than he really was.

Sakura sighed softly before saying, "Alright... Let's head back to the motel."

- - -

"..." Sasuke stared at the two small glass bottles of pills in his right hand. One was for pain, and the other... The doctor had used a bunch of medical terms Sasuke honestly didn't understand, but it had something to do with the Chakra coils -- and after the coffin ordeal (Sasuke was incredibly grateful he was not claustrophobic or scotophobic), he would need it. (Scotophobia - Fear of darkness)

Naruto, on the other hand, had checked out as 100-percent healthy. He couldn't help but grin at Sasuke because he actually beat the genius at something. But Naruto knew that it wasn't really all that funny. Sasuke's body was honestly messed up, though in all reality he had chosen to undergo the transformation.

"You're gonna remember to take them, right?" Naruto grinned. The two of them were approaching the motel, the old-man doctor a few paces behind them. "You gotta get back to full health, or I'll completely surpass you."

Sasuke chuckled, finding Naruto's confidence entertaining. "Right. If nothing else, I'm sure Sakura will remind me to take them." He didn't seem annoyed, he seemed a little humored about it.

"Yeah..." Naruto said, looking down the street at the motel. "So, about Sakura-chan...-" He glanced over his shoulder, at the doctor. "Eh, never mind. Right now's probably not the best time to talk about it."

Sasuke rose an eyebrow, and Naruto wouldn't look at him. _What's with him?_ Sasuke wondered. _Well, if it's about Sakura, yet he doesn't want to say it now... I'm sure it's personal..._ Sasuke sighed softly. _Just what I need. Naruto _and_ Sakura spilling their guts out to me._

He'd never admit it, even within his own thoughts, but his subconscious was doing backflips over being close enough to someone for them to confide in him. (Please don't tell him I told you that. _Author glances over his shoulder, at his own bottom. _I still have the burns from the last time I made him seem anything other than bad-ass.)

(Seriously. Shh!)

"This it right here?" the doctor asked, pointing at the Mokuren Motel.

"Yeah," Sasuke said, looking over his shoulder. "They're probably going to need more of these Chakra coil pills you gave me. You did bring more, right?"

"Enough to last the five of you a month," the doctor replied, grinning a toothy grin. "I have some equipment sealed in a few scrolls. I won't be able to do something like an x-ray or brain scan, but I don't think you'll need those."

The Genin glanced at each other. "Umm... How much does that brain scan cost?" Naruto asked, grinning a little. He scratched the underside of his nose, "One of our clients might need one." He was referring to Riddin, and Sasuke knew it from the scratching motion.

"Or both," Sasuke said, the thought of Rayn hotwiring the electrical system to shock Riddin awake.

The old man cackled, and Naruto laughed.

- - -

The door opened and the Genin entered, the old man right behind them. Naruto blinked. He had expected Sakura-chan, Riddin, and Rayn to be watching TV. Or for Riddin to be reading that damn-perverted book by Ero-Sennin, and the girls either talking, or watching TV, or... something. Whatever it is girls do. He was ready for Sakura-chan regaling the clients with stories of their more impressive missions, or for them telling her about their adventures over the years.

He even figured Sakura-chan making out with Riddin was more likely than what was actually going on in the room. Hell, he figured Sakura-chan making out with _Rayn_ was more likely than what was actually going on.

Rayn was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, twirling a kunai. Her eyes were empty, just staring. She was wearing a pair of large radio headphones, listening to a genre of music to reflect her mood. She shifted her gaze to the open door, made no sign of greeting, and then looked back up at the ceiling, still mouthing the somber words of the song. Sasuke was fairly good at reading lips, and his eyes seemed to soften as he read Rayn's.

Riddin was sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed, several glass pill bottles in front of him, a an empty glass (previously containing water) on his right. Pain medication, several medications Naruto's couldn't pronounce, and an antidepressant. Riddin was wearing his backup gray jacket, since his normal white one had been abandoned in the forest -- but his arms weren't in the sleeves, he seemed to be hugging himself under the jacket. He didn't even look up at them, just kept staring at the antidepressant pills bottle. Naruto wondered how many he had taken already.

Sakura was sitting in the recliner, reading from a magazine. She kept glancing up at the other two people in the room nervously, as if Riddin would purposely overdose or Rayn would slit her wrists.

"Uh..." Naruto started dimly. "What... what's going on?"

The Yoshimitsu did not react. Sakura set the magazine down and shook her head at the boys. The doctor looked between Rayn and Riddin for a few seconds before marching past the male Genin and crouching down in front of Riddin. Riddin did not react.

_**Naruto and Sasuke are here,**_ Ezo rumbled. _**Get out there.**_ 'There' meaning the physical, real world.

The mental representation of Riddin did not react. He was sitting on the muzzle of the Five-Tails, his knees tucked into his chest, his arms around his legs. Riddin had retreated into his mind since he had taken his medicine, hoping the Chakra-boosted medicine would kick in soon. He had yet to say anything, he just sat there.

_**Riddin.**_ Nothing. _**Sitting in here, feeling sorry for yourself, won't do anything.**_

_I'm...-_ Riddin sniffed._ -...aware of that._

The doctor waved his hand in front of Riddin's eyes. The boy did not flinch, twitch, or blink. The doctor pulled Riddin's right lower eyelid down a little, flashing the boy's eye with a light. The irises shrank, as they should have. The boy's lower eyelid, the doctor noticed, was glistening slightly.

"Well, he's responsive..." the doctor said. "He's either very good at ignoring me, or he only has limited brain activity."

_**Are you going to take that sitting down?**_ Ezo asked. _... __**Apparently you are.**_

"He did that earlier today," Sakura said. "He hit his head, rolled around for a few seconds, and then was really still."

_**Perhaps I could have chosen a better time to draw you into your mind...**_

"Hmm... If he hit his head hard enough, there might be brain damage..." the doctor surmised.

Riddin blinked and then stared at the old man. "I don't have brain damage, I'm fine."

"!" The doctor rose his eyebrows. "So you were ignoring me."

"In a manner of speaking," Riddin replied flatly. He stood, still apparently hugging himself. "Just look at my arm, man." The jacket shifted up, so that it still hung from his left shoulder, but had been pulled up enough on the right side to show his right bicep -- and the horizontal scab across it. The scab was black, with a yellow pus oozing from it.

The doctor made a face, drawing close to get a better look. "Well, that's certainly infected...:"

"Brilliant, Doc," Riddin said sourly. Sakura glared at him for his rudeness, but he obviously didn't give a damn. "I only have a tenth of a normal person's immune system, so imagine that I get infected! WOW!"

- - -

The day ended, and the team was settling in to go to sleep. Rayn had been prescribed the same Chakra coil pills as Sasuke, as well as some pain medicine. Riddin had been given some antibiotics and some steroid. Sakura, after also getting a quick checkup, and been dismissed as perfectly healthy -- which she found encouraging considering her ordeal back on the snowy island. She and Naruto would have gloated a bit, but the mood of the clients made them keep quiet.

Sasuke was relieving himself in the bathroom. Sakura was lying in the recliner, still feeling uncomfortable about the clients' bad moods. Naruto was pulling on his sleeping cap, sitting in his sleeping bag. Riddin was sitting up against the foot of the bed, though the medicine bottles were put away. Rayn was lying in bed, still listening to music.

After a minute, Sasuke entered and laid down between Naruto and Sakura. It was not lost on either client that the ninja were keeping a bit of a distance from them. Riddin climbed up onto the bed as Rayn took off her radio headphones, lying on the opposite side that Rayn was again. Several minutes of awkward silence passed, and the Genin certainly did not want to break the silence.

"Guys?" It was Riddin that had spoken. The ninja all looked at his side of the bed, though the boys did not sit up. "I'm sorry for being such an asshole today."

Sakura began with, "You weren't a-"

Sasuke cut her off with, "Don't worry about it. Sakura told us what happened."

"Hm," grunted Riddin. "Well... I guess everybody has a bad day, _ne_?"

"...Hey, Riddin?" Naruto asked, sitting up. "Those antidepressants... Do you always take those? Does Rayn take 'em?"

Riddin chuckled, "Nah, I don't take 'em every day. Rayn and I just take them on bad days."

"How often do you have a bad day?" Sakura asked.

"..." Riddin became silent, thinking.

"Less often when we're alone," Rayn replied, the first time she had spoken since they had gotten back to the motel. "Which is why it's a little easier for us to be on the move so much. If we're around society..."

"We actually see what we're missing," Riddin finished softly. He sighed softly, staring up at the ceiling some more. "...Or whatever..."

"Just shut up and go to sleep," Sasuke said bluntly. Naruto laughed, and even Riddin chuckled. There was a slight pause. "And no more crying, you pansy."

"..." Everyone was utterly silent for a moment.

"Uchiha," Riddin growled. He sat up and glared at the Uchiha, his eyes dry, gnashing his teeth together.

"Hmm?" Sasuke hummed confidently.

Fire erupted inside Riddin's eyes. "I hate you. So very, _very_ much."

- - -

Author's Notes: ...That came out pretty well, I think. I really liked the ice cream thing, even if it's not entirely original. But on the flipside, it shows how they react differently than Naruto (who diverted his attention to his training). I also liked Riddin giving up his food to Rayn, it really shows his priorities. I know the whole "We have no more money" thing came up a bit weak, but... Meh. Something like that doesn't need a whole lot of expansion, does it?

Also, do you recognize the closing 'joke'? Back in Chapter 12, Sasuke mocked Riddin for apparently naming a Jutsu in a kid-manga-like-fashion. Then Riddin simply said "Uchiha... I hate you." Now he's expressing he hates Sasuke "very, _very_ much." Kinda different from the friendly, curious (while somewhat dry about Sasuke's responses) attitude Riddin showed Sasuke in Chapter 10. A bit of character development, _ne_?

Plans: For those of you who remember Chapter 10, it was more-than-less comedic relief, though it did (somewhat) progress the plot. The next chapter will be like that. I'm not sure how it came to be that Chapter 10 and Chapter 20 are for those reasons, but I promise that when (or rather, if) I reach Chapter 30, it will also be funny.

It could be a while until next time, boys and girls.


	20. Chapter 20 Corruption

It's been a while, boys and girls. The robotics thing I've been working on since the beginning of the year ended February 16. I turned 17 on February 22. I've had so long to do this chapter, in the little times I had during the robotics thing and the massive amount since then, yet... I don't know, I wasn't too motivated.

This adds up to twenty chapters of "The Art of Deception, Part One." I can't say there's been a WHOLE lot of deception, but there's been some. The Yoshimitsu have been lying about the white Chakra (except to Naruto), Kyouku has been lying to Yokoji about how Narucho died, and then there was the dealio with the Sound. ...Do you guys even remember who Narucho was?...

Disclaimers: I do not own... _NARUTO_, Gorillaz or their brilliant work, _Spiderman_, or Peanut. I think that's it. Hmn. I was expecting more for some reason.

-- - -

It was September 27th. Sakura quietly realized this as she lay in the recliner the next morning. They had left Konoha September 15th. They should have been back yesterday, but they were still about a day away. They would have to work their way around and take a different path to Konoha, to stay out of the Kajiya's way, which would only lengthen the time until they reached home.

She watched the clients sleep, and just had to smile. Rayn looked completely innocent, smiling peacefully on her stomach with her arms wrapped around her pillow. Riddin was lying on his side, his knees tucked into his chest his arms curled in front of him -- he looked like a sleeping dog, curling into a ball. Rayn brought a smile to Sakura's face, Riddin's position was just funny.

As Sakura stared at them, she wondered if the Village's protection would keep them safe. Apparently the Kajiya had managed to pose a threat while the Yoshimitsu were in the Hidden Cloud. But then again, the Cloud didn't know they were a threat. The Leaf Village would know, so that could make a grand difference.

Hopefully.

- - -

An hour later, the clients had woken up. They both seemed surprised to find someone else awake, as they had been the first to wake up for the most part. Sakura was still in the recliner, Rayn sitting on the edge of the bed, her legs dangling. They were just talking nonchalantly, though softly, as if they were just companions, not ninja and client. Riddin was sitting up against the headboard, reading his _Icha Icha _book, half-listening to the girls.

Riddin was lazily reading a... "romance scene" when he noticed the sudden silence. He looked up, wondering if Sakura had gone to the bathroom or something. Both girls were still sitting where they were they had been ten seconds ago. However, Rayn had her back to him -- both girls were staring at the floor. Riddin focused on Sakura, who was blushing and bleeding from the nose. Riddin imagined Rayn was in a similar state.

Riddin looked down at his book again, and found that the girls' reactions suited the page's content. _...Have I been reading aloud or something?_ Riddin wondered. _**No, you've been silent this entire time,**_ Ezo assured. _Weird. What're they staring at, then?...._

Riddin noted his page before closing it quickly, but the noise didn't even faze the girls. He squinted with his left eye, confused. He hopped off the bed, leaning to the left to get a better view at whatever the girls were staring at.

_Sakura yawned cutely, turning on her side. Her hand reached out and grasped at Naruto's jacket subconsciously._

"_Cute," Rayn said with a smile._

_Sakura yawned again, turning on her other side. She put an arm over Sasuke, shifting her head from her pillow to his shoulder._

"_Very cute," Rayn whispered, grinning._

Both boys were sound asleep, oblivious to the stares and the positions of their bodies. Naruto was lying on his left side, his right hand resting on Sasuke's chest and his right foot resting against Sasuke's.

"Sexy," Rayn murmured, not used to things like this.

Riddin's face was contorted with blind rage as tiny explosions went off in his eye sockets, setting his pupils ablaze as if they were gunpowder. Riddin brought back the hand that he was holding his book, grinding his teeth together. He roared, "OI!" and hurled the book at the boys. Both of them snapped awake from the yell, sitting up as fast as possible, Naruto's limbs snapping away from Sasuke. The flying (hard-cover) book clocked Sasuke right between his sleep-encrusted eyes, which sent him back to lying flat on his back.

"STOP CORRUPTING MY LITTLE SISTER, YOUBASTARD!!" Riddin yelled at Sasuke, quickly advancing on the boys.

"'The hell just happened?" Naruto demanded sleepily, looking down at Sasuke, and then back up at Riddin. He then noticed the girls rubbing their noses, both of them a bright red. He then looked back to Riddin, who was right in front of him by now.

"And you!" Riddin yelled, performing a sideswiping kick with his right leg. His foot crashed into Naruto's face, sending him flying into the wall, back-first.

"What the hell?" Sasuke demanded with a groan, sitting up. "Why did you do that?!"

Riddin grabbed Sasuke forcefully, with both hands, by the collar of his shirt. Riddin hefted him up, Sasuke's feet dangling off the floor by almost a foot. Riddin then began shaking him violently.

"Because you need to STOP BEING GAY!!!" Riddin roared, shaking Sasuke even harder. The girls just stared dimly. It didn't even occur to Sakura to hit Riddin for beating the crap out of Naruto and Sasuke. "SA-SU-GEI!" (Gei - Gay, Sasugay)

"Dude, you need to relax," Naruto said dizzily, beginning to get up off the wall.

Riddin reached out with his left foot, gathering Chakra to it. He tapped his _Icha Icha _book, and it latched onto the balls of his feet because of the Chakra. He then kicked in Naruto's general direction, sending the book rocketing into Naruto's unprotected forehead.

"_Ani_, you should probably stop before Sasuke-kun's head falls off," Rayn said after a moment, calm as always during her brother's episodes.

Riddin stopped shaking Sasuke very suddenly, and the Uchiha's head still bobbled around for a few seconds. Riddin lowered Sasuke so they were eye to eye, Sasuke's feet hovering a few inches above the ground. The fire in Riddin's eyes slowly died down.

"You got lucky," Riddin growled, and then he dropped Sasuke -- who's head was spinning too much to make his legs support his weight, so he collapsed backwards.

"..." Riddin was overreacting again. Sakura gulped, feeling a little afraid of Riddin.

"!" Riddin's ears seemed to twitch again as the gulp seemed to bring his attention to the cowering kunoichi. He glared at her for a few seconds before his eyes softened and his shoulders sagged, the rage apparently gone. He walked over and grabbed his book, which was sitting next to the unconscious Naruto. He then jumped onto the bed, bouncing around before landing in a sitting position.

"Sorry," he said simply, flipping open the book to the right page. "I'm not much of a morning person."

- - -

Half an hour later, most of the group had decided to head out to get breakfast. Riddin stayed behind, saying he never ate breakfast. Sakura stated she wasn't hungry, mainly because she hadn't had breakfast for a few weeks due to a new diet. This information gained strange stares from the clients -- after a moment had Riddin tilted his head and stared at Sakura's stomach, and Rayn stared at her own flat belly. Riddin then pointed at the door, as if telling Rayn, _She's just weird, now go eat._

Sakura was now idly watching TV, finding absolutely nothing on. There was no cable, and she wasn't interested in watching that foreign channel Rayn and Riddin had been watching. She sighed and flicked the TV off, lying back on the bed and staring at the ceiling. It had a popcorn texture, so she tried finding pictures in the designs -- like looking for shapes in clouds. There was nothing.

Sakura let out an annoyed groan, thrashing about on the bed for a few seconds. "Why is it that this mission is either panic-inducing action or grinding-your-teeth boredom?!" she demanded loudly, simply trying to vent, temporarily forgetting she was not alone.

"Welcome to my life!" Riddin roared from the bathroom, laughing.

Sakura sat up, momentarily confused. Realization hit her hard in the forehead, smacking her back down into the bed. She sprang back up, and put her ear to the bathroom door. The water was running, or more accurately, the shower was running.

After a moment Sakura registered the fact she hadn't bathed much in the past twelve days. Two times. Three if you count the bath/frostbite-treatment back in the cave. Sakura wasn't counting it.

"Riddin, hurry it up!" Sakura called through the door. "I could use a shower!"

"Yeah, yeah!" he replied loudly. "I'll be right out!"

. . .

Sakura was back to watching boring-as-hell TV. She just sat on the edge of the bed, legs crossed, staring at the small television set.

This is usually the part of the story where the author explains just how the female lead feels. Where we dive into the confusing depths of a woman's mind, trying to make sense of her actions and relationships. However, I'm not a girl. I'm not interested in trying to figure out the cryptogram that every female human seems to know from conception. So we're going to skip over that, and get right to the good stuff. Spice things up, _ne_?

"Hey, Sakura, could you toss me the towel on the recliner?"

Sakura looked up at the source of the voice. It was Riddin, of course. Sakura knew that before she even glanced to the left. It was the usual vaguely-deep and friendly voice, with a nonchalant tone, which reminded her somewhat of her sensei. When Sakura actually saw the sixteen-year-old, she blinked. When her mind realized she wasn't under some _baka-ero_-Genjutsu, she became wide-eyed and blushed profusely.

Riddin was hanging off the bathroom's doorframe with his right hand, his entire weight shifted to the left, so he could see around the door, which was forming a right angle with the wall. He was dripping wet, slowly soaking the carpet. His hair looked black from being drenched, and it lay slick across his face and neck -- like an actor from a movie, or a model in a commercial. This change from his usual spiky, and somewhat strange in Sakura's opinion, hairstyle was having quite a strange effect on Sakura's hormones. The thing that really, _really_ took the cake (and some of the blood from Sakura's nose) was the fact that he was stark-naked. Luckily (or at least that's what Sakura's rational side described it as), the door was blocking Sakura's view -- all she could see was his head. How's that for spicing things up?

"Wha-what are you doing?" she stuttered, blown away he'd just lean out like that. She couldn't see anything she didn't always see, but it was strange knowing the only thing preventing her from seeing his entire self was an inch-thick wooden door, which would swing fully open if he put any weight on it.

"Increasing the sexual tension between us," he replied, as if it was that simple. He did not blush, did not stutter. Sakura's ears turned pink, she was blushing so hard. Riddin reached around the door with his left hand and pointed at the recliner, or rather the brown towel folded on the arm of the chair. "Now could you toss me that towel? I'm kinda cold drip-drying."

"Uh-uh-oh, um.... yeah," she mumbled, rolling back off the bed and grabbing the towel. "Umm.... Here." She tossed the towel at his general direction, and it landed too far away for him to catch it, so it hit the floor. Sakura took a step forward to get it, but then remembered his lack of attire, and her feet became rooted to their locations.

Riddin rolled his eyes, releasing the doorframe and snatching the towel from the ground. "Girls are so weird," Sakura heard him muttered as he went back in the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. "What was _her_ problem?"

Sakura fumed for a few seconds before sticking her tongue out at the bathroom door. She tasted the blood from her nosebleed and quickly wiped away the blood with the back of her hand. She filed away one more punch she owed Riddin once the mission was over, grinding her teeth together.

Inner Sakura stared at the large stack of excuses for pounding the sole male Yoshimitsu. It was three times her height. Still, it wasn't much. Inner Sakura had lost a lot of strength recently, finding herself appearing less and less. Another slab appeared, to represent her discontent towards Riddin concerning the 'girls are so weird' comment.

Inner Sakura squeezed her eyes shut in a very Naruto-like fashion, tilting her head. _I owe him one for making the list this long..._ And another block appeared at the top of the already unbalanced tower. It swayed slightly before tumbling down, burying Inner Sakura. _Okay..._ Inner Sakura finally managed to fight her way out of the avalanche, her upper body poking out._ This earns him another!_ Another crate of anger materialized directly above her, falling down and crushing her, burying her anew. _...Ow._

- - -

Naruto, Sasuke, and Rayn were fighting their way through the crowd, trying to find a place to eat. There were people chatting everywhere, so you had to talk pretty loudly for your friends to hear you. Which meant everyone else had to talk even louder so their friends could hear them, which set off a chain reaction that blew out everyone's eardrums and stole all their voices.

"It's even louder than yesterday!" Rayn said brightly, grinning. Despite saying she and Riddin felt like crap around society, she seemed to enjoy the atmosphere. "What a nice festival! Foods of all kinds, people of different backgrounds, foreign wares, fireworks...." She continued listing off everything she saw, her voice growing fainter and fainter in the dull roar of the crowd.

Naruto grinned widely. "Konoha never has anything like this!" he yelled, and for once his loudness did not earn him any stares. Memories of his training bounced around the blonde's head for a few seconds as he looked around, his grin becoming ever-wider.

Sasuke had a slight smile on his thin lips as he scanned their surroundings. He had never been to something like this, and despite his usual anti-social personality, he couldn't help but smiled in this mirthful environment. He cocked his head slightly at a face-painting booth, but he kept walking. _Another time, the next festival, perhaps... Heh-heh... I really have changed._

- - -

"So then Tazuna-san and his team was able to finally finish the bridge," Sakura finished with a smile, brushing her wet hair. She was sitting, oddly enough, on the toilet -- lid down. Riddin was sitting with his legs crossed on the sink, his shirt wrapped around his head like a blindfold. He had just kind of walked in while she was changing, the 'blindfold' already on. He had sat on the sink counter, apparently yearning for a conversation. After a mild rant and one strong punch to Riddin's arm, Sakura had calmed down enough to talk.

"Hmm," he hummed thoughtfully. "Question! How come you call the clients by '-san,' but you don't call me and Rayn by 'san'?"

"Uh... I don't know," she shrugged. "I just don't. I usually don't have clients around my age, I didn't really think about it."

"I mean, I saved your life," he said thoughtfully, apparently not listening. "Twice, even! Plus I'm the client. Yet you won't even call my by 'kun' or even 'senpai.'" (Yang's Note - Senpai basically means "senior," you say it to an older student or a colleague who's been at your job longer than you.)

"Well... I don't know what to tell you," Sakura said, a little put off.

"Meh..." He scratched at his face a little. "Can I take this thing off yet?"

Sakura reached down and picked up the plunger she had found behind the toilet. She removed the plastic end, leaving only the wooden pole. She smiled evilly, hefting it up to her shoulder. "No, not quite yet.... I have a surprise for you."

Riddin stretched his mouth out a little, sticking out his lower lip in thought. He rose his eyebrows, still wondering what it could be. _Huh... Watta ya think?__** Perhaps she wishes to reenact the eighth chapter from your book?**_ Riddin frowned slightly, _That's the one with the fight scene and the shower scene, right? __**The very same.**__ Yeah, I don't think so._

- - -

"_Pokkii_?" Rayn offered as she and the guys left the small stand they had eaten at. She had bought a small box of them, and one was already between her teeth.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, looking a little wary of foreign goods.

"It's basically just a biscuit stick covered in chocolate," Rayn said, taking one out of the box. "It's good, try it, Naruto-kun! I'm sure you'd like it too, Sasuke-kun!"

"I'm not one for sweets," Sasuke said, shaking his head.

Naruto shrugged and took the _pokkii_, sticking one end into his mouth. He didn't bite it, opting to simply suck on it. He smiled, nodding. "It's alright. Thanks!"

- - -

Riddin rubbed the side of his head. There were several lumps on the side of his head. Sakura had finally gotten her revenge for all the crap Riddin had been giving her. She had unloaded all the crates in Inner Sakura's domain, and now Sakura's inner insanity was taking a long nap.

_Well, you were half right,_ Riddin though bitterly in Ezo's direction. _There was certainly a fight... of sorts. __**Perhaps we've finally found your "trigger," Riddin. Chufufufu...**_ (Chufufufu - Ezo chuckling)_ Seriously, she's dragging more white Chakra outta me in a week than the _kaneyarou _have in a month..._ (_Kane-yarou_ - metal bastards)

Riddin gulped down all his medicines (and an extra pain killer for his new wounds) before hurrying after Sakura, who had already left the room. He made sure to lock the door behind him, triple-checked that he had the 500 ryou (Rayn having taken the other 500), and made sure he was clothed. Blue shirt that was two sizes too big, white pants that slowly fell from his waist if he didn't use a belt, no belt, and his ninja sandals. He was good to go.

"Was that really necessary, beating me up while I was blindfolded like that?" Riddin demanded once he was abreast of her. She merely smiled. "Y'know, one of these days, I'm gonna realize I shouldn't be taking crap from you. And then you're gonna find yourself swinging from chains attached to your ankles."

"Fair enough," she said with a smile. They entered the lobby of the motel, the exit still a small ways off.

"Did I mention I'm into BDSM?" he asked with a malicious, and mildly perverted, grin. It took her a moment to remember what that was, but when she did, she lit up like a lamp and punched him in the arm. "Oh, Sakura!" he gasped out, throwing his head back. She socked him even harder. He pretended that his knees buckled. "So... good..."

"This is why I don't call you by 'san'!" she roared in his face They were gaining some strange stares from the other people in the lobby. "You _hentai_!" The women all glared at Riddin, and the men all chuckled softly. (_hentai_ - "Strange," but slang for 'pervert')

"Ah, come on," he said, frowning. "I'm just joking around..." She ignored him, crossing her arms and stomping ahead. Riddin then noticed that people were staring at him. "Watta you starin' at?" he demanded to the lobby in general. The women all huffed and went about their business, and the men chuckled some more. Riddin spared a quick grin at the three men, who each returned the gesture.

Riddin looked back to Sakura and his frown returned and deepened for a moment before his face lit up with another grin. He hurried forward, dropping down to all fours for a moment. He sprang up right between her legs, catching her by surprise, and lifting her up onto his shoulders.

"Come on, Sakura!" he crooned. "There's a festival outside! Oop, duck!" She wrapped her arms around his head, getting as close to him as possible so her head wouldn't hit the door as they exited the building. Sakura blushed and straightened back up. "What to do, what to do?" Riddin wondered loudly, grinning all the while.

"Wow..." Sakura murmured as she looked around. Her anger was completely forgotten as awe washed over her. She had never seen anything like this. Naruto had talked of it once or twice, but physically being there was so much different. "This is so cool..."

"It is, isn't it?" Riddin agreed, sounding soothed by the minor chaos. "Come on, let's go find something to do."

"What about the others?" Sakura asked, still looking around. "We'll never find each other..."

"I'll spark up some Chakra every once and a while, Rayn'll notice eventually," Riddin assured. "So..." He broke out in another wide grin, his voice elevating several decibels. "Watta you wanna do first?!"

Sakura looked around, feeling like a kid in a candy shop. Then her inner kunoichi started to shift a little, and she shook her head. "We shouldn't stay here, Riddin. Your arm looks pretty bad, you're sick anyway.... We should get to Konoha as fast as possible."

Riddin frowned. "But... that sound so boring!" He grinned, "No way am I passing this up! Plus you've never been to something like this, right? Come on! Live it up a little!"

"But think of all the times we've gotten into crap already because we decided to stick around somewhere!" Sakura pointed out. "We should just move on while we have the chance!"

Riddin's giant grin was turned upside down. "No. Either enjoy yourself here and head for Konoha with Rayn and I tomorrow, or go find the guys and go home now -- by yourselves."

"You're so hardheaded...." sighed Sakura. She sighed again, putting her right elbow on the top of his head, resting her chin on her right palm. She grasped her right forearm, and she sat like that for a while, and Riddin just kept walking through the crowd. "I have a bad feeling about this, staying in this town..."

Riddin grinned, "I'm sure the good of today will outweigh the bad of tomorrow."

"I just can't help but feel that that tomorrow comes today," Sakura mumbled into her palm.

"Jeez, you a member of Gorillaz, or what?" Riddin grinned. He could sense her blank look. "It's a foreign band that just came out of hiatus, _Tomorrow Comes Today_ is one of their first songs..."

"You and your _baka-gaijin_ references..." Sakura muttered. (Baka - Stupid or Idiot, Gaijin - Foreigner)

- - -

"_Sugoi_!" Rayn exclaimed, noticing a certain stand that merely had the fireworks kanji on its sign. (Amazing) "Fireworks, really cheap!" Her trained eyes quickly scanned the wares.

She ended up buying two roman candles, a fairly large rocket, and four sparklers that burned so far down it's length that there was only two inches of clearance between the end of the sparkler and where the fire went out. While it was all incredibly cheap, Rayn was left with only sixty ryou. She could buy a handful of candy, that's about it.

"We'll have to have some fun after we get to Konoha!" Rayn said cheerfully, getting out of the way of other customers, hurrying into an alley with the fireworks bundled into her arms. She set them down carefully, pulled out her sealing scroll, and sealed them. The guys examined the crowd and the surrounding stands, wondering whether they should go get Sakura and Riddin or enjoy themselves a little.

- - -

Sakura watched Riddin launch from the ground onto a moving cart, fly to a horizontal flag pole and flip around on it until he flew upward, where he landed on the roof. He then jumped from roof to roof, checking out all the different games. When he finally returned, he seemed to be in even higher spirits that before.

"Man, those meds did the trick!" Riddin said, roaring with laughter. "I feel like Spiderman!"

Sakura cocked her head. "That Sound guy??" An image of Kimimaro popped into her head.

"N-no..." Riddin said, her watery ignorance extinguishing his flames of excitement. "It's a manga and movie series, I think they have a few anime, too. It's this guy in Rain Country, where there are a lot of tall buildings, and he..." He saw her, yet again, blank look. His head drooped and his shoulders sagged. "Sorry, another _baka-gaijin _reference."

- - -

_Thud, thud, thud._

"Easy," Sasuke said with a smile.

_Thud, thud, clink!_

"Two out of three isn't bad," Rayn said with a smile.

_...Cricket sings._

"This sucks," Naruto mumbled.

It was a game that tried to replicate a ninja's target practice, the throwing of a kunai. You had to be at least thirteen, which left Naruto unable to play.

"This is stupid, I'm a ninja!" Naruto said loudly. "Lemme play!"

"Rules are rules, kid," the lanky man behind the counter said with a shrug.

"But I turn thirteen in like two weeks!" Naruto whined, and the man just shrugged again.

Sasuke was given the choice of one of the larger animals, with Rayn allowed to choose a medium one. Sasuke didn't seem interested, he just wanted to toss a few kunai -- plus it was pretty entertaining watching Naruto squirm. He ended up shrugging and choosing one at random. Naruto was able to grin at him for that, Mister Bad-Ass walking around town with a massive pink teddy bear. Rayn chose a purple monkey -- or at least it kind of looked like a monkey, it almost looked like a troll kind of thing.

"Now I just need a single red shoe!" she said with a smile, causing Naruto to burst into a fit of giggles. Sasuke just stared at the two of them blankly, holding his super-sized pink bear.

- - -

"Eat a lemon," Riddin suggested.

"What would that do?" Sakura demanded. She had been trying to win a stupid fishing game for the last ten minutes, and her wallet was now half empty. The net was paper thin and you had to capture the fish without ripping through it. She just kept staring at the white and red fish angrily.

"The koi will mistake you for their mother, and swim to you," Riddin explained, squishing his lips into a fish expression with his hands, fanning them like gills. Sakura only got half the joke, the visual part of it, and rolled her eyes. "Y'know," Riddin said, still in 'fish mode,' but he was breaking out in a bit of a grin, "cuz you're white and red simultaneously a lot."

She blushed in embarrassment when she realized he was calling her pale. Riddin laughed because she was indeed white and red at the moment. She wasn't generally this pale, but ever since going face-first in the snow, she had lost a lot of color -- as if the snow had bleached her somehow. But Riddin had only seen her after the 'bleaching,' so he just thought of her as pale.

Riddin laughed even more, which was making a funny sound through his fish lips. "I guess that's why your hair is pink," he observed, ending the fish face and gently pulling at a strand of her hair. "It had to find a medium between the red and white!"

"You ass," she mumbled, trying to shrink into nothingness because a few of the other people playing the game were also chuckling and giggling. She turned even more red. "Stop embarrassing me in public."

"Oh, I'm sorry _Hime-chan_," he said with a broad, sarcastic grin. (_Hime_ - Princess. Referring to her wanting to be Tsunade's apprentice, as Tsunade is called Hime-sama.) "How shall I serve you today? Shall I fetch that lemon for you? Fuahahaha!"

Sakura socked him in the gut, and he stopped laughing quite abruptly. She expected the generic "That was uncalled for!", but he didn't say anything. For once, she had knocked the wind out of him. But he didn't recover. He just stood there, breathless. Sakura ignored him, finding his reaction to be fitting, and she continued playing the game for a short time.

When she won after two more tries, and chose a black stuffed bear that reminded her of Sasuke, she turned back to Riddin. He was breathing, but he was dimly staring at his palm. Something was dripping from it. She looked at the ground to see a small puddle of red. She looked back to Riddin to see his lips had blood on them, his teeth stained red. He was cupping more blood in his right palm.

Nobody else seemed to notice. Sakura looked up to Riddin's face, worried. His expression was still pretty vacant. When he finally looked to her, he narrowed his right eye -- as if he was acting on his habit of closing his right eye while thinking, but he wasn't thinking all that hard.

"Well, _that_ can't be good," was all he said.

- - -

Sasuke, Naruto, and Rayn were wandering through one of the nearly-empty streets of town -- it wasn't packed solely because nobody had set up shop here, there were no stands for the festival anywhere on the street. Rayn had spared Sasuke the embarrassment of the pink bear by carrying it for him, something he was quite grateful for.

Naruto wanted nothing more than to dive back into the sea of chaos on one of the other streets, something he made sure the others knew. But Sasuke had already told him three times that they should find Sakura and Riddin. Then they were leaving.

"No way!" Rayn exclaimed. "After all this, there's no way I'm leaving yet! And I'm sure _Ani_ feels the same way! You guys can leave if you want, Konoha is only a day or two away, I'm sure we'll be fine."

"I guess we're staying for the festival," Sasuke said simply.

- - -

"Why aren't you hurrying?!" Sakura demanded. They were going from rooftop to rooftop, to get to the hospital faster. "You just coughed up a lot of blood!"

"Chill out," Riddin said dismissively. "It's nothing new." He pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He spit out a spark without any hand seals, lighting up a cigarette -- Sakura wasn't sure if he was just that good, but she suspected mouth ember, which you just bite to make a spark. He stuffed the pack into his pocket and took a long drag. He looked up, his lips pursed, and exhaled a thin column of smoke.

"You moron, your laid back attitude is the reason you coughed up blood in the first place!"

"No, you socking me made me cough up blood," he said, rubbing where she had hit him. Another drag, longer than the last one. Another pillar of smoke, taller than the last. It took Sakura a moment to realize it, but she remembered why he said he smoked. It helped calm him, it helped him think. Was this laid back thing just a charade?

He still had a lot of the cigarette. But he took a massive drag on it, his chest expanding, seemingly without restraint. The tip of the cigarette quickly burned away until there was just the butt. His cheeks puffed up, he looked as if he was swishing water in his mouth. He tossed the butt, apparently done swishing the smoke in his mouth. He exhaled with his lips still pursed, so that it shot straight up in a tiny spire. It seemed to balloon after a few meters, creating a large sphere of smoke, which slowly rose up. He must have used a Wind Release of some sort to do it.

- - -

"Huh," Rayn grunted thoughtfully. "_Ani_ seems to be trying to get our attention."

She was staring up at the plume of smoke rising in the air. The guys looked over, cocking their heads curiously.

"How do you figure it's him?" Naruto asked.

- - -

Riddin let out another blast of air, aiming at the ball of smoke.

- - -

Naruto and Sasuke sweat-dropped. Rayn just smiled. The blast of air had disrupted the smoke, creating a wisp of the Yoshimitsu insignia and an arrow pointing down -- directly at Riddin. Not exactly the brightest move when people are searching for the Yoshimitsu, but luckily the Kajiya were nowhere nearby.

Rayn looked over her shoulder, the shoulder not being blocked by the giant pink bear. She grinned. "That's how."

- - -

"You guys are making a mountain out of a molehill," Riddin groaned when he saw Rayn, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto enter the hospital room he was in.

There were a dozen beds in the room, six on one side and six on the other. Mobile curtains separated some of the beds, giving the patients a bit of privacy, but some patients preferred to keep them put away so they could talk to their temporary roommates. Riddin was on the fifth bed on the right, only one bed separating him from a window that opened up to the cold night air. The only other person in the room seemed to be in a coma, and was in the bed between Riddin and the window.

Hours had passed after the five of them had reunited. They had trudged up to the hospital despite Riddin's objections, and he was admitted. However, he refused to let them near him anymore, and used a Transformation to make an annoying, high-pitched siren that only they seemed to hear. So they had went out and enjoyed themselves, winning a few more prizes -- which were all back at the motel now.

Riddin looked pretty normal other than an IV drip in his right arm, and for whatever reason he was wearing a metal forehead protector, much like the ninja's -- except it had no insignia engraved into it.

"Stop complaining," Sakura growled, thoroughly annoyed with him by this point.

"Somebody's grouchy," Riddin observed with a cocked eyebrow. "Lose all your money?" Sakura sighed and nodded. Riddin grinned, proud of himself for being right.

"What's with the forehead protector?" Naruto asked, tapping his own right temple, where the metal covered Riddin.

"This IV they gave me has itchiness as a side effect, apparently," Riddin shrugged, scratching at his scalp. "They made me wear it so I didn't scratch myself in the wrong place and die."

Naruto squinted with one eye, wondering just how itchy the medicine made someone to make them not notice they were drawing blood from scratching so much.

"So, Sakura, you paid at the front desk, right?" Riddin asked.

"Why would I?" she asked. "You're the one in here."

"I don't have any ryou," Riddin said, looking at her as if she was a little weird. "And you're the one who dragged me here."

Sakura blinked. "You... don't have any money?"

"We've been through this," Riddin said, referring to lunch at the picnic table. "I told you I didn't want to come, I'm pretty sure I said I was broke on the way here, too."

"You honestly think I listened to your whining?" Sakura demanded, hands on hips.

"Shut it," Sasuke said flatly before Riddin could come shoot back his witty retort. Riddin clenched his teeth, growling at Sasuke. "I'll pay for it. Just shut up."

"Huh." Riddin just hummed thoughtfully. "That's awful nice of you, Uchiha." He grinned, one of the first in Sasuke's direction for a while. Sakura smiled -- maybe now Riddin wouldn't be at Sasuke's throat all the time now. "I'll make sure to pay you back!" Riddin held out his hand, as if to shake. But he clenched his fist, sticking out his pinky. "Pinky promise!"

"..." Sasuke just stared at him, dumbfounded by the young man's childishness. "You... still do that?" Sasuke managed to get out after a few seconds. Riddin frowned slightly. "Pfft," Sasuke scoffed.

Riddin furrowed his brow angrily, bared his teeth, literally growling again. "You can forget about me paying you back, Uchiha," Riddin said loudly, thoroughly angry again. Sakura frowned. So much for them getting all buddy-buddy.

"Then I just won't pay in the first place," Sasuke shrugged. "I'll let you flounder around, it should be funny to see you try to get out of that predicament."

"Oh, you'll pay," Riddin assured with a big, evil grin. "Otherwise, not only will I tell the Hokage your mission was an EPIC FAILURE, I'll be putting your ass in the hospital!"

"And you'll be in the hospital from both the fight and your disease," Sasuke pointed out.

"And I'll be right next to your injured ass!" Riddin roared, grinning malevolently.

"Both of you, shut up!" Sakura exclaimed, rubbing her temples desperately. "We're in a hospital! Riddin, just shut up, okay? You're not helping! Sasuke-kun, please just... don't provoke him."

"How come he doesn't get yelled at!?" Riddin demanded, pointing at Sasuke.

"Because he's not yelling!" Sakura yelled back.

"But you are," Riddin pointed out, an almost mutter, but clearly loud enough for her to hear. "Hypocrite."

"...Sasuke-kun, pull the curtains around his bed," Sakura said softly, a shadow falling over her eyes. "I'm going to smother him with his pillow."

"_Hai_," Sasuke said simply, smiling and grabbing three of the rolling curtains.

"_Oi_, Rayn! Do something, these two are trying to-" Riddin noticed both Rayn and Naruto were out of the room, walking down the hall to leave. "_OI_! You're gonna just leave me here!?"

"Yep," Rayn and Naruto said in unison, raising the opposing hands in farewell. They didn't even turn around.

"Waaaaah," Riddin sobbed comically, droll rivers of tears running from both eyes, his mouth opening wider than it should have been able to. Sasuke finished drawing the curtains, and Sakura's still invisible eyes reflected an even glint from the rectangle lights overhead.

- - - Backtrack a little here

"_Uchiha"... _These thoughts slowly churned through his mind. The EKG attached to the man in the next bed picked up. No one in the room noticed, they weren't paying enough attention. His pale fingers twitched. _...The patient next to me definitely said "Uchiha."_ The man looked out of the corner of his left eye.

"I'll make sure to pay you back!" Riddin held out his hand, as if to shake. But he clenched his fist, sticking out his pinky. "Pinky promise!"

The man narrowed his eyes, scrunching up the red bags under his eyes. _What are the chances... _He furrowed his brow until his eyebrows nearly touched the two red dots on his forehead. _It is clearly fate..._

The curtains were pulled around the bed. The man managed to see who had set them up -- a black haired boy. His back bore the Uchiha crest. And he was much too young to be the elder brother. The man honed his ears, focusing in on the sound of the patient's whining. If he kept that up, a nurse was sure to come rushing in. That would be bad.

"Waaaaah," Riddin sobbed comically.

The tip of his left index finger split open, revealing the bone. _I have to silence the brown-haired boy quickly..._

_- - -_

Author's (Long, but worth it) Ending Notes: Bam! Got Kimimaro back in there! Well, I'm afraid I'm gonna suck at his dialogue, but I'm gonna have so much fun with his fight scene... I really hope you guys enjoy it.

Was it funny? At all? Did you at least smile, ONCE? Some of this is just total Riddin-raging-crack, especially in the beginning. A statement or two from Riddin is funny if you would actually hear him say it in conversation, but not as funny to read it. Oh well. Most of the humor within the hospital is visual, and reminds me of some of the humor used by Hiro Mashima. If you haven't read Fairy Tail, by Mashima-sensei read it at . I've got a gingerbread army in the hundreds (I think) waiting to hold your head still and force you to look at the screen if you refuse. ...Does anybody even get that "joke"?

Did anybody get the Peanut reference? You know, the Jeff Dunham puppet? If you know what I'm talking about, he's awesome, ain't he? If you don't know what I'm talking about, go to or or something, and look up "Jeff Dunham" or "Achmed the dead terrorist." You can thank me later.

Speaking of references, do you guys find it annoying I do it so often? I don't know why I do it, honestly. I even do it in my art class -- I'll give you a link when I upload it onto my DeviantArt account. I think it's just kind of a shout-out to all that I enjoy, giving them props. Plus if I can get someone interested and try it, and they like it... I dunno, it just seems cool to me.

It took me so long to get through this chapter, even when I had free time. I knew what the end of the chapter would be, but I had a few ideas for humor, and plus I had to actually connect the ideas. Which was not easy without making Riddin look like a complete jackass. Some may argue that I've already crossed that line, why stop now? Well, you are a hater. But you've read for twenty chapters, so I love you (in a completely non-creepy or stalker-like way) all the same.

I might get bad responses for it, but Riddin is my favorite character, easily. He's the most child-like character of the bunch, despite being the oldest. He's just outright fun to write, honestly. For you aspiring authors out there, if you don't like writing for a character, scrap him! And there's the tale of Narucho. I killed him for some plot development, and to show Kyouku was completely insane (funny tidbit, _kyou_ means insane. I didn't know that until recently) but mainly because he was a boring 'henchman' character.

Another character I don't like writing for is Sakura. _NARUTO_ is an incredibly easy series to make into a fanfic due to all the time skips, the massive "you can make up just about whatever the hell you want" factor, and the fact that most of the characters are so distinctive that it's easy to keep them in character. Sakura doesn't have much of a personality, or at least not to me, so it's a little difficult writing for her at times -- especially in the softer moments, or her reactions to some of Riddin's idiocy.

Jirobo. I can't even remember if that's how I spelled it when he was still alive, and I don't care. This guy was plain boring. Keeping Tayuya's tongue in check was so boring, monotonous, repetitive, that it just seemed stupid. Yes, as shown in the manga, it's a big part of who he is. Still lame. Plus his fighting style was outright boring, I'm surprised he was the last to die -- though Tayuya is actually still alive. Which is weird because I also dislike writing for her. Due to Riddin's Jinchuuriki abilities he could snap her like a twig, but he doesn't. Oh well. I haven't decided whether to actually kill her or not, though.

To... be honest, I used "eat a lemon" for a friend. He doesn't even read this, let alone know I write it (as if I'd ever mention it to him). But I just kind of typed it, planning to erase it. Just to see it and laugh a little. But I was going to have Sakura be playing a fish game, and the joke in that scene was born. I challenge each and every one of you to make this a new trend! If somebody annoys you, and you just don't want to deal with them any more, just say "Eat a lemon," and walk away (Not for use on parents or teachers). Or if you're IMing someone, say it, and then log off.

...I was watching _HOUSE_ the other day... Some of Riddin's symptoms make it seem as if he has AIDS. I don't know why I mentioned that. XD

(Beta's Note) FINALLY!! I can express what I feel!! The whole thing about how my brother didn't submit a chapter in FOREVER. Well for the last week or so, it was partially my fault. Didn't have the time and I am pretty sick right now. *sigh* As for his references, well I do that a lot too. Only I mainly use music references. Lolz!! Thank you to everyone that reads this fan fiction!! It makes my job worth while!! XD


End file.
